Oxford WW1 airman's grave identified 105 years on
Oxfordshire History Centre/Headington News The grave of a First World War airman which was left unmarked for 105 years has been identified and rededicated.
Cpl Bertie Frederick George Jeffs, from Oxford, was 21 when he and a pilot were shot down near Bapaume in northern France in October 1916.
It was rededicated after work proved that Cpl Jeffs was buried next to the Scottish pilot, Sgt Ernest Haxton, in Douchy-les-Ayettes Cemetery near Arras.
The cemetery is run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
A rededication service was attended by members of the Royal Air Force and organised by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC).
Cpl Jeffs was born in 1895 in Headington to Francis Henry Jeffs, a house painter, and Amelia Elizabeth Jeffs, a housewife.
He is also commemorated on a memorial at Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry and on one in St Andrew's Church in Headington.
Twitter user @otagoviewSgt Haxton was aged 23 when he died and was originally from Dundee. Both were members of No. 11 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.
Rev Kate Bruce, who conducted the service, said: "For 105 years Bertie Frederick George Jeffs' body has lain unknown - except to God. Now this has been corrected thanks to those who have offered compelling evidence concerning his identity.
"It is a great privilege to honour Bertie Jeffs and his pilot, Ernest Haxton, giving thanks for their courage and sacrifice. Two young men who sacrificed all that might have been in their lives for all that has been and is for countless others."
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