A Canadian soldier killed in action during the First World War has been identified more than a century later.
The Department of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces have confirmed the identity of the company sergeant-major. David George Parfitt on Thursday.
Parfitt was one of 156 members of the 8th Canadian Infantry Battalion killed in action on September 26, 1916, during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.
Parfitt’s headstone, which is located in the Regina Trench Cemetery in Grandcourt, France, identifies him only as an unknown infantry battalion sergeant major.
He was 25 years old at the time of his death.
Parfitt was the only Canadian company sergeant major to die on that date in France, a detail the Ministry of National Defense said “contributed significantly” to the identification of his grave.
Parfitt was born in London, England in 1891 and immigrated to Canada at the age of 18.
He was a mill worker in Keewatin, Ont., before enlisting in the Army in Valcartier, Que.
Three of his brothers also enlisted and survived the war.
The Canadian Armed Forces said they had notified Parfitt’s family of his identification.
A rededication ceremony for the headstone will take place “as soon as possible” at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery Commission’s Regina Trench in France, the federal department and the military said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 28, 2022.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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