WWI mass grave unearthed in France

Corpses were found on the site of a German car factory in France

ARRAS, France -- Twenty skeletons lying side by side in a mass grave -- believed to be the remains of British soldiers from World War I -- have been found in France.

The bodies were unearthed neatly lined up, with arms linked, and all had boots on. There were traces of bullets and shrapnel among the bones.

Some of the bodies were without heads and some had missing arms or legs, but most were largely intact.

Archaeologists were digging for Greco-Roman ruins at the construction site of a BMW car factory in France when they discovered the remains.

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The corpses are believed to be members of a regiment reported missing on the first day of the Battle of Arras in 1917.

On that day, members of the 10th battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment were fighting in the same area where the remains were discovered, retired Captain John Lee said.

Michael Johnson, director of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said three of the soldiers in the common grave bore same shoulder patches carrying insignia of the 10th Lincoln Regiment, based in northern England.

It can be assumed, he said, that the others came from the same regiment.

However, Captain Lee, regimental secretary for the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, recommended caution when presuming they were the 20 missing soldiers until the remains could be identified properly.

He said five battalions of the Lincolnshire Regiment fought in the two Battles of Arras -- in 1917 and 1918. More than 9,000 members of the regiment were killed in the first world war.

Badges showing the Lincolnshire regiment's emblem were found

According to Captain Lee, at least 100 soldiers were reported missing during the first battle -- which lasted from April 9 to June 14 -- but only 20 on the same day and in the same place.

"Of the 20 remains found in the mass grave, four had something like a cap badge which could identify them as coming from the regiment," he said.

"But it will be very hard to confirm who they and the others were. Even if you could use DNA you would have to track down their relatives perhaps three generations on, which will not be easy."

Three other fallen soldiers were found in a nearby shell hole. A 24th soldier was found alone.

The Lincolnshire Regiment was formed in 1685, but was amalgamated in 1964 to form part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.