The Other Lost Fortyniner of Avion

The Other Lost Fortyniner of Avion


The finding of remains of First World War soldiers on former battlefields is both remarkable yet familiar to those in Europe who live on what once was the Western Front. Especially in the Artois region of France, where new urban development projects, on ground once heavily fought over by Canadians in 1917, promise the unearthing of grim reminders of that past war. The discovery of Corporal Gordon Gregory Dunning‚' remains in 1953 is one example.

The Other Lost Fortyniner of Avion

Private Herbert Peterson and Private Thomas Lawless of the 49th Battalion had both been Missing in Action since the Avion Raid in June 1917 until they were positively linked to the remains of two Fortyniners found during excavations for a gas pipeline on a residential street in Avion, France in 2003. The extraordinary scientific methods utilized to establish the identity of their remains in 2007 and 2011 respectively gained international attention. Here we tell the story of another Fortyniner recovered from the Avion battlefield some fifty years earlier, Corporal Gordon Gregory Dunning.

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This is the thirty-third in a series of quarterly newsletters originally recognizing 100th anniversary events of the First World War, with emphasis on Edmonton‚' 49th Battalion, and 75th anniversary events of the Second World War, with emphasis on The Edmonton Regiment/The Loyal Edmonton Regiment. These stories came to an end with our 2019-1 and 2020-3 editions respectively. However, there are still many stories to be told about our regiment, past and present, including our newest series of articles on our regimental commanding officers. We will also be expanding our focus on the museum itself with articles related to more current events and with stories about some of the interesting artefacts and archival materials in our collection.

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