Middlesex Regiment soldier laid to rest on the Somme
Private (Pte) Percy Tolliday, from Camberwell, London, buried on the Somme alongside two unknown soldiers. Identification was made through DNA testing 110 years after Pte Tolliday went missing in action during the Battle of the Somme.
The Reverend Fiona Beale CF conducts the service (Crown Copyright)
Pte Percy Tolliday, of 11th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, was laid to rest on the Somme on 21 October 2026 alongside two unknown comrades, at a burial service organised by MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘War Detectives’. The service took place at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Warlencourt British Cemetery.
Richard Tolliday, the great nephew of Pte Tolliday, had travelled from Atlanta, USA to attend the burial service with his wife and nephew. It was Richard who had provided the DNA sample that made identification of Pte Tolliday possible.
Richard Tolliday stands at the graveside with his wife, nephew and members of the military party (Crown Copyright)
Richard Tolliday, great nephew of Pte Tolliday said:
We are deeply grateful to the JCCC for their extraordinary dedication, expertise, and professionalism that enabled the identification of the remains of our Great Uncle, Pte Percy Tolliday, 110 years after his death in the Battle of the Somme. In 1916, Percy was a soldier but also a son and a brother. It has been an honour to be able to assist in this process and to attend his burial service that so movingly and impressively brings an appropriate recognition and closure for Percy and his family, past and present.
Pte Tolliday and the two unknown soldiers were uncovered during the installation of wind turbines near Gueudecourt. They were found lying in a shell hole, suggesting that they may have died together, possibly having been hit by the same shell. Work continues in an attempt to identify the unknown soldiers.
JCCC Caseworker, Rosie Barron said:
It has been a privilege to have played a part in the identification and burial of Pte Percy Tolliday and to have provided answers for his family. He and these two unknown soldiers were killed in the most awful conditions in heavy rain, deep mud and under continuous shelling. The worst extremity of World War 1 conditions. JCCC will continue to do all it can to work to identify Pte Tolliday’s comrades and hopefully bring further closure to other families.
The service was supported by serving soldiers from The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and The Regimental Band and Corps of Drums of The Royal Welsh.
Pte Tolliday's coffin is carried to the graveside by serving soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (Crown Copyright)
The service was conducted by the Reverend Fiona Beale CF, Chaplain to 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
Reverend Fiona Beale CF said:
Being the Padre to 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, I find it a deeply moving and humbling privilege to conduct the burial service for Pte Percy Tolliday and two unknown soldiers, presumed to also be of The Middlesex Regiment. It is a sacred duty and profound honour to lay to rest these World War 1 heroes who endured the unimaginable horrors of the trenches.
The graves of all three men will now be cared for by the CWGC in perpetuity.
Dr Daniel Seaton, Commemorations Case Officer at the CWGC, said:
The three casualties now laid to rest were recovered by the Commission’s specialist Recovery Unit, not far away from where today’s ceremony has taken place. I am delighted that, following research conducted by ourselves and the JCCC, Private Tolliday has been identified, and remain hopeful that it may also be possible to identify the two Unknown Soldiers in the future. All three are now remembered with honour in the Commission’s Warlencourt British Cemetery.