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Public unveiling of the portrait reconstruction of Private Thomas Lawless, 49th Bn, CEF
A quick update from the remarkable story of the identification of Private Thomas Lawless, 49th Battalion CEF. One of the key pointers in identifying the human remains found at Avion as belonging to Thomas Lawless concerned the portrait facial construction undertaken by renowned sculptor Christian Corbet.
1 April saw the first official public unveiling of the portrait reconstruction to a full house at the local armoury. The event was hosted by a local museum and supported by the 2nd Newfoundland Regiment. The event commenced with several letters from parliamentarians and even one from the family itself.
Letter from the Prime Minister on the unveiling of Thomas Lawless's portrait
This was then followed by a short Power Point lecture given by Christian Corbet on his role in the identification process which was well received.
Letter from Government of Newfoundland and Canada
There has been an enormous amount of interest generated by this story and it clearly shows the fascination with and the desire to honour the fallen of the Great War. As an addenda to this blog I have today (12 April) received a link to an excellent blog by sculptor Christian Corbet which details his part in the ID process. Please click on Identifying a WW1 Soldier to read it.
Cadets pose with the portrait of Pte Thomas Lawless and sculptor Christian Corbet