Ottawa – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have confirmed the identification of a previously unknown grave as being that of Lance Corporal Morgan Jones Jenkins, a Canadian soldier of the First World War who was buried as an unknown soldier at the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, in Haucourt, France.
Morgan Jones Jenkins was born in Wales in 1886 to a minister and his wife who would lose two other sons in the First World War. After immigrating to Canada, he studied at the Manitoba Agricultural College before enlisting in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Saskatoon, and joining the 3rd University Company, based out of McGill University. The company sailed for England on September 4, 1915. Overseas, he was transferred to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), wounded, promoted, and assigned to the Canadian Corps’ intelligence service for 18 months. Having rejoined PPCLI, he was declared killed in action on August 28, 1918, during the Second Battle of Arras, following a difficult advance on Jigsaw Wood, a position used by the enemy to defend the Fresnes-Rouvroy Line in France. He was 32 years old.
The Canadian Armed Forces have notified the family of Lance Corporal Jenkins’ identification and are providing them with ongoing support. A headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the earliest opportunity at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery in France.
The Canadian Armed Forces Casualty Identification Program, within the Directorate of History and Heritage, identifies unknown Canadian service members when their remains are recovered. The program also identifies service members previously buried as unknown soldiers when there is sufficient evidence to confirm the identification.