Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33754, on World War 1, what constitutes the extensive efforts referred to which are made to try and identify any recovered remains.

Efforts to try and identify recovered remains, first concentrate on forensic analysis and examination of personal and regimental artefacts found alongside them. If the Regiment is identified, war diaries are reviewed. In addition, liaisons with archivists, historians and individual Service records are examined to aid investigations. If a small group of fallen soldiers with no known graves are identified for comparison, DNA testing may then take place, if required.