He was laid to rest in Belgium, but the tombstone of a former Royal Air Force member has been discovered buried in a Manitoban's back yard.
Amy Shiels and her boyfriend Corey Scott discovered the tombstone while completing work for a fence for their backyard at their Portage la Prairie residence.
They hit upon something they thought was a rock.
"When we finally go to move it and realize what it is, we're all in shock. How did this get here?" asked Shiels.
The tombstone they uncovered was made for a man named Charles Hubert, a member of the Royal Air Force who died in 1943.
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Hubert was a "leading aircraftman" from the United Kingdom. He was buried in a Brussels cemetery in Belgium.
People in Portage la Prairie wonder if he died in the area as Portage la Prairie was used as a training base for pilots during the Second World War.
"He could have had a mishap during pilot training and could have crashed and got killed and buried somewhere in the area," said Bill Pearcey.
RCMP said it they hope Veterans Affairs Canada might be able to help with the mystery of how the tombstone ended up in a Portage la Prairie backyard.
"There (are) records and Veterans Affairs are keepers of these records so we have to see what they can do – if they can take it over from here," said Sgt. Line Karpish from the RCMP.
Corey Scott said he has no idea how long the tombstone has been in the location where it was found. He said the man who lived at the house before was a Second World War veteran.
"Maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe it's someone that he knew," said Scott.
He and Shiels hope someone has information on where the tombstone came from and where it belongs.
The tombstone will remain in the couple's backyard until they hear from Veterans Affairs or the RCMP on what they should do.
- with a report from CTV's Ina Sidhu
