Wreaths to be laid at the Leamington cenotaph. November 11, 2015 (Photo by Kevin Black)Wreaths to be laid at the Leamington cenotaph. November 11, 2015 (Photo by Kevin Black)
Windsor

Leamington Soldier's Final Resting Place Identified

A family originally from Leamington is travelling to Belgium this weekend for a ceremony to mark the grave of a First World War soldier who never returned home.

For nearly 90 years the Bennie family had been left to question what happened to their family member Bob Bennie and were unaware of his final resting place. One of the last remaining relatives, Claire Clark, says the mystery was something that plagued the family for many years.

Belgium historian Dirk Decuypere and his wife Mieke. (Provided by Claire Bennie Clark) Belgium historian Dirk Decuypere and his wife Mieke. (Provided by Claire Bennie Clark)

"My grandmother and grandfather took Bob's five brothers and sisters over to Belgium in 1924 to try and find his grave and pay their respects. They were unable to find him because he had actually been buried in a German cemetery by the German army. The fact that they never found him I think was a hole for everybody," says Clark.

But eight years ago, Clark was contacted by an amateur historian in Belgium who went digging to help identify the three Canadian soldiers who were buried without an identity in his home town. For 13 years, Dirk Decuypere tried to put the pieces together and that eventually led him to contact the Municipality of Leamington, which put him in touch with Clark.

"I'm absolutely astonished that this has happened and incredibly grateful to Mr. Decuypere," says Clark.

Decuypere's discoveries have since been verified by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Britain. A ceremony will be held next week with the family, in which headstones will be raised so Bob Bennie will have a marked burial spot.

"We're taking some stones from Leamington to put on his grave. It's a pretty big event for us," says Clark.

Clark, along with her husband and daughter, will also be retracing the path the family took in 1924.

"We have a diary that outlined where they went and we found a guide who is able to take us to all the spots that they had covered. So we're going to do that the day before the rededication ceremony, only at the end we have a different outcome," says Clark.

Clark says she is happy to finally get some closure in honour of her grandparents and her mother.

Though Clark is the last remaining relative as she is the only grandchild of her grandparents, the Bennie family was once very prominent in Leamington. The Greater Essex County District School Board named the Margaret D. Bennie elementary school after her aunt who was a loved teacher and principal. Her uncle Alfred Bennie was once the mayor of the Municipality of Leamington. Clark now lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.

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