The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have confirmed that the grave of a previously unknown soldier is that of Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham, a Canadian soldier of the First World War. Corporal Cunningham was buried as an unknown soldier in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, in 1920. The identity was confirmed through historical research conducted using numerous archival sources including war diaries, service records, casualty registers, and grave exhumation and concentration reports.
William Cunningham was born near Hayfield, Manitoba, on December 30, 1895, the second son of Hugh James Cunningham and Syllindia Isabel Cunningham (née Harper). He worked as a clerk in Brandon, Manitoba, and served in the 99th Manitoba Rangers militia unit before enlisting with the 181st Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). In April 1917, Lance Corporal Cunningham arrived in England to train with the 18th Reserve Battalion, CEF. In August 1917, Lance Corporal Cunningham was taken on strength by the 44th Canadian Infantry Battalion, CEF, and joined his unit in France. In September, Cunningham was promoted to the rank of Corporal.
That fall, during the Third Battle of Ypres, also referred to as the Battle of Passchendaele, the Canadian Corps' main objective was to capture the village of Passchendaele, Belgium. In an assault that began on the morning of October 26, 1917, the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division (of which the 44th Battalion was a part), attacked along the eastern ridge on which ran the Zonnebeke-Passchendaele Road. The 44th Battalion fought through intense machine gun fire, gas and shellfire to successfully take and hold a destroyed forest, Decline Copse. In just three days of fighting, 45 men of the 44th Battalion were killed. Of those, 29 were declared missing with no known grave. According to his files, Corporal Cunningham was killed in action on October 27, 1917, during intense shelling while fighting at a forward outpost past the Canadians' front lines. For unknown reasons, his remains were not identified. He was 21 years old.
The CAF has notified the family of Corporal Cunningham of his identification and is providing them with ongoing support. A headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the earliest opportunity at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Tyne Cot Cemetery.
