Grave of Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley is rededicated at CWGC Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Belgium

Standards are lowered as the Last Post sounds (Crown copyright).

The grave of Leeds-born World War One soldier, Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley of 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment, has now been marked more than a century after his death.

The rededication service, organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) was held at the CWGC Poelcapelle British Cemetery on 21 March 2024.

Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley

Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley was born in the Far Headingley area of Leeds, Yorkshire in 1881, to parents Charles and Mary. He had one older sister, Louisa. He was a member of the Honourable Artillery Company between 1909 and 1915, before he was gazetted to the Hertfordshire Regiment in October 1915.

He joined the 1st Battalion in April 1916 and in September 1916 was reported as suffering from shell shock, although he returned to the Battalion soon afterwards. He then spent time in the First Army Provosts, returning to the Hertfordshire Battalion on 10 April 1918.

Simon Cautherley stands behind his cousin's headstone with members of the military party (Crown copyright).

On 26 April 1918, while retiring to a new defensive line north of Voormezele, Lieutenant Cautherley was overtaken by the rapid German advance and killed. His burial was not recorded, and following the war he was commemorated by name on the CWGC Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.

In 1923 his remains were concentrated into the Poelcapelle British Cemetery as an unidentified officer of the Hertfordshire Regiment. Contemporary research has now led to Lieutenant Cautherley’s identification. The CWGC has marked his new point of commemoration with a headstone bearing his name and the epitaph ‘He bravely sacrificed his life for his country’ provided by his relatives.

JCCC Caseworker, Alexia Clark, said:
“I am pleased to have been involved in identifying the final resting place of Lt Cautherley. In rededicating his grave today, we have reunited his mortal remains with his name, ensuring that his sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

The service was conducted by the Reverend Tom Sander Chaplain to the Household Cavalry and was also attended by representatives of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Bugler Lance Corporal Watts plays the battalion bugle call (Crown copyright).

The Reverend Sander said:
“Today we rededicate the grave of Lt Cautherley, in recognition and in memory of the sacrifice made in the cause of war. We commend him into the hands of Almighty God and continue to pray for the peace which the world cannot give.”

Lieutenant Cautherley’s final resting place is now marked with a new Commission headstone bearing the epitaph ‘He bravely sacrificed his life for his country’ provided by his relatives.

Mel Donnelly, CWGC Head of Commemorations said:
“We are deeply honoured to rededicate the grave of Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley. His memory shall endure eternally under our watchful care and commitment. His sacrifice and service are indelibly etched in both history and stone at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Poelcapelle British Cemetery.”