Two Scottish soldiers identified after a century in France

In a breakthrough at Loos-en-Gohelle, France, investigators have identified the remains of two Scottish soldiers more than a century after their deaths in the Battle of Loos.

The discovery came in 2021, when construction workers clearing land for a new hospital unearthed more than 100 sets of remains. The site drew the attention of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, whose recovery unit led by Stephan Naji launched a painstaking, on‑site examination. Artefacts recovered with the remains included boots, belts, buckles and regimental insignia, all helping to frame the case and narrow the circle of possible identities.

At CWGC headquarters near Arras, investigators found that shoulder badges pointed to soldiers who had fought for two Scottish regiments, the Gordon Highlanders and the Cameron Highlanders. But confirming exactly who was buried in the mass of remains required help from the United Kingdom's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, or JCCC, a small Ministry of Defence unit known to some as the war detectives.

Nicola Nash, a case worker with the JCCC, spent years narrowing the field. One clue stood out: tiny buttons from the Newcastle Corporation Tramways were found with the remains, a detail unusual for a Scottish soldier. By cross‑checking the 1911 census and other records, Nash identified a tobacconist assistant named Gordon McPherson as the most likely match. "The key information was that it’s got James, his father, and he was working as a storekeeper for the Newcastle Corporation Tramways," Nash said of the census notes.

Brothers Alistair and Andrew McPherson, from Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, learned their great‑grandfather was the man tied to those tramway buttons. The McPherson family had long kept a family heirloom known as the black box, filled with keepsakes and letters from relatives who served in earlier conflicts. The box helped keep alive the memory of Gordon McPherson, and its contents soon became part of the story of his search for identity. A letter from Nash to Alistair explained the likely connection, and DNA testing would later seal the match. Alastair recalled the moment of identification as a turning point: “I was shaking like a leaf.” A DNA sample from living relatives then confirmed the link. McPherson, 23, had been a Lance Corporal in the 7th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, and had lived in Edinburgh as a tobacconist before the war. His brothers Jim and Charles also served, with Charles only 14 when he joined.

The second identity proved more elusive. It was believed the remains included officers from the Gordon Highlanders, and the presence of officer‑style buttons suggested a possible officer’s body. But the site yielded multiple remains, complicating the task. Researchers turned to war records and found that 14 Cameron Highlanders officers had been in the area on the day of fighting. The JCCC traced the families of those officers and conducted DNA testing. The inquiry eventually yielded a match with Lieutenant James Grant Allan, a 20‑year‑old officer whose great‑nephew lived just three doors away from another member of the war detectives team in Gloucestershire.

The Allan family, from Scotland but raised in Stroud, Gloucestershire, has long known the story of Jim Allan and his role in the war. Nicholas Allan, Jim’s great‑nephew, described the moment of contact from Nash: a telephone call that would change the family’s memory of the Great War. Nicholas learned that his DNA matched remains found in France, and that those remains were Jim Allan. He said he felt a jolt as the reality sank in, recalling how his family had a photo and letters that hinted at the uncle’s fate. A family album carried stories that now gained a concrete identity, and Nicholas recalled the sense of awe and gratitude that followed.

The two men were eventually identified as Lieutenant James Grant Allan and Lance Corporal Gordon McPherson. The effort to confirm Allan’s identity involved tracing his life and relatives, then confirming a match through DNA testing. As the war detectives noted, the work requires patience and sensitivity, given that it intertwines archived records, oral histories, and living family narratives.

The two soldiers were laid to rest this week at the Loos British Cemetery, close to where their remains were found. Alistair and Andrew McPherson attended the ceremony, and the family received the Newcastle tramway buttons in a small framed case, along with a folded union flag. “We’re going to need a bigger black box,” Alastair joked, acknowledging the long history of remembrance that the family has carried forward.

Nicholas Allan said he was left in awe by the war detectives’ work and grateful for the opportunity to honor his great‑uncle Jim. “It’s just been so heartwarming and a real privilege,” he said.

In total, the CWGC recovery unit and the war detectives say they have found and buried the remains of more than 300 British soldiers over the past decade. While the majority could not be traced, their work has identified 60 of those who died in battle; many thousands more remain missing. The effort, described by some as a quiet, persistent form of service, is ongoing, with the hope of bringing closure to more families connected to the Great War.

Even as the last chapters of this particular mystery close, officials stress that the work continues. The men’s families speak of closure, while the broader public is reminded of the vast scale of the war’s human cost and the ongoing effort to identify those who never came home. The JCCC and CWGC say their work is driven by a duty to those who served and the enduring obligation to remember.

From the western trenches of World War One to modern DNA laboratories, the story of Gordon McPherson and James Grant Allan underscores how modern forensics, archival research, and family histories intersect in the search for identity. The sprawling Loos battlefield, once a place of indistinct graves and uncertain fates, is now a site where two lives are acknowledged, their names spoken aloud again, and their memories given their rightful place in history.