North Star with Ellin Bessner Canada Identifies Long-Lost Soldier from Prominent Jewish Family in the U.K.
It took five years of DNA testing, forensic analysis and genealogical sleuthing to restore his name — and reveal a hidden past.
Pte. Albert Henry Detmold, was the son of British Jews from London, and the nephew of Rufus Isaacs — better known as Lord Reading — who served as Britain’s Chief Justice and later as Viceroy of India.
It is the first time since Canada launched its missing war identification unit in 2007 that a Jewish soldier has been identified, although
Detmold enlisted instead as Presbyterian.
In this episode of The CJN’s “North Star” podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with the historians and forensic experts who identified Detmold through DNA and traced his family. Sarah Lockyer, Alexandra McKinnon and Melissa Davidson of the Department of National Defence’s Casualty Identification Unit describe how they uncovered both his identity — and a family history that had been largely forgotten.
Related links
- Learn more about Pte. Albert Detmold , and also about the 100,000 Canadians who fought in the Battle for Hill 70 in August 1917
- Read more about the 4,700 Jewish troops who wore a Canadian military uniform in the First World War, in The CJN from 2021 , and from 2016 ,
- Register to help identify Canadian war dead with no known grave, for the Department of National Defence’s Casualty Identification Program
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director), Yael Sher (marketing and communications coordinator)
- Music: Bret Higgins
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