Breakthrough as DNA identifies WW1 soldier
He was a young man, like so many others, who fell on the battlefield at Passchendaele. Aged just 29, Private Jack Hunter died in the arms of his younger brother, Jim, who buried him there, on the front line, in a shallow grave.
Once the guns had fallen silent, Jim returned to look for his brother's body, but the ground had been chewed up by artillery and he could find no trace. So the story remained, unfinished, when Jim himself died, aged 86 in 1977, calling to Jack with his final words.
Now, 90 years after that infamous battle, Jack's body has been recovered, and has become one of the first to be identified using genetic profiling.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Once the guns had fallen silent, Jim returned to look for his brother's body, but the ground had been chewed up by artillery and he could find no trace. So the story remained, unfinished, when Jim himself died, aged 86 in 1977, calling to Jack with his final words.
Now, 90 years after that infamous battle, Jack's body has been recovered, and has become one of the first to be identified using genetic profiling.