Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham

In April 2019, a research report was received suggesting that an unknown Canadian soldier buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium could be identified.

In early August 1917, Lance Corporal Cunningham spent ten days receiving treatment for a fever before rejoining his unit in the field. On 1 September 1917, Cunningham was promoted to the rank of Corporal.

The 44th Battalion, CEF, was created on 7 November 1914 and arrived in France on 12 August 1916. As part of the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division, the 44th Battalion, CEF, participated in many major battles throughout the First World War including the Somme Offensive in 1916 and the Arras Offensive (Vimy Ridge) in 1917. In particular, the 44th Battalion, CEF, played a key role in the Third Battle of Ypres from 31 July 1917 to 10 November 1917.

Also referred to as the “Battle of Passchendaele”, in October 1917 the Canadian Corps was ordered to capture the village of Passchendaele, Belgium. On 18 October 1917, the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions of took over a portion of the front lines southwest of the village. Due to the intense fighting in the area and the flooding of the Ravebeek River, conditions in their position were poor with the whole area having become a field of mud and water-filled shell holes. These conditions forced the Canadians to advance towards the village along two ridges of high ground using a two-pronged attack formation.

On the morning of 27 October 1917, the 10th Infantry Brigade was fighting along the eastern ridge attempting to take and hold positions to get closer to the village of Passchendaele. As part of the assault, the 44th Battalion, CEF fought through intense machine gun fire, gas, and shellfire to take a destroyed forest called Decline Copse. After gradually pushing forward and successfully holding the position through intense counterattacks, they secured the position along the ridge before being relieved during the night of 28/29 October. Despite their success, holding the copse came at a great cost. In just three days of fighting, the 44th Battalion, CEF, suffered forty-five men killed, including twenty-nine missing with no known grave.

Corporal Cunningham fought as part of the 44th Battalion during the Battle of Passchendaele. According to his Circumstance of Death Register and military service file, Corporal Cunningham was killed in action on 27 October 1917 during intense fighting while on duty at a forward outpost past the Canadians’ front lines near Decline Copse. He was shot and killed by a rifle bullet.

After the war, Corporal Cunningham’s name was engraved on Panel 28 of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. The Ypres Memorial was erected to honour the soldiers killed in the Ypres Salient in Belgium during the First World War who have no known grave. It commemorates casualties from around the world including Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. He is also commemorated on his family headstone located in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery in Brandon, Manitoba with the epitaph “he that giveth his life shall find it”.

On 18 September 1920, a grave was concentrated to Tyne Cot Cemetery and registered as belonging to “A Corporal of the Great War – 44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry – Known unto God”. The occupant of the grave was unidentified with no known date of death, but due to the original location of the grave and the known details of those buried around him, the unknown soldier was believed to have died during the Battle of Passchendaele.

In April 2020, the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH) received a report from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission detailing the potential identification of Grave 18, Row D, Plot 40 in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission had received reports from independent researchers raising the possibility that this grave was that of Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham. Extensive research undertaken by both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the DHH confirmed that this grave could only be that of Corporal Cunningham. No other candidate matched the details of the partial identification. Historical research was conducted using numerous archival sources, including War Diaries, Service Records, Casualty Registers, and Grave Exhumation and Concentration Reports.

In November 2023, the Casualty Identification Review Board confirmed the identification of Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham of the 44th Canadian Infantry Battalion (The Royal Winnipeg Rifles), CEF. The Casualty Identification Review Board is made up of members from the DHH, and participants from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the Canadian Museum of History.

A headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the earliest opportunity in Belgium at the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

For more information on Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham, you can consult his personnel file held by Library and Archives Canada.

More on casualty identification

• Casualty Identification Program
• Roll of identified casualties