Missing in action Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in France bears the names of 72,090 British and Commonwealth combatants, all of whom went missing in action during the Battle of the Somme, were never found and who have no known grave. Similarly, the Menin Gate memorial in Belgium commemorates 54,896 missing Allied combatants who are known to have been killed in the Ypres Salient. The Douaumont ossuary, meanwhile, contains 130,000 unidentifiable sets of French and German remains from the Battle of Verdun. Even in the 21st century, the remains of missing combatants are recovered from the former battlefields of the Western
Menin Road South Military Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery graves were lost in later fighting or could not be found after the war. As these are known casualties (not "missing"), they are included in the total figure for burials in the cemetery and are not recorded on the Menin Gate. The cemetery holds the grave of acting-Captain Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson, of the Northamptonshire Regiment who was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour "in the face of the enemy" in the Commonwealth. Menin Road South Military Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Menin Road South Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead