A siver identity tag was found some 25 years ago on a Great War battlefield near LA 
COUTURE, a village between ARMENTIERES and BETHUNE in France, together with some old 
coins and a button from a British army trench coat. The tag belonged to an 
officer of the Machine Gun Corps: 2nd Lieutenant ROBERT WILLIAM STEAD (1896-
1926) from Liverpool. It has been the finder's fervent wish that the tag be returned 
to Robert's family.  

This website was set up to aid Rootschat.com members who are helping with the quest 
for any surviving relatives. 

Robert was an 18 year old  bank clerk when war broke out in August 1914. A year 
earlier he had volunteered for the Territorial Army and had been accepted into the 
6th Rifle Battalion of the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment as a Private. On the outbreak 
of war, his unit was mobilised and was sent to France in February 1915. In February 
1916 he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps where he rose through the ranks to 2nd 
Lieutenant. He was wounded at Abbeville in 1916. Discharged from the army in 1919, 
sadly he died in 1926 leaving a young widow.   
 
Rootschat.com members eventually located Robert's grave at St Peter's Church Woolton. 
It was in need of attention and a number of kind contributors donated funds to enable 
the headstone to be restored. The headstone was re-erected on 22 May 2008. 
 
THE DATA ON THIS SITE WAS RESEARCHED IN 2007 BY CONTRIBUTORS TO 
WWW.ROOTSCHAT.COM ON THREADS INITIATED BY "Liverpool Annie"

THE ORIGINAL GEDCOM FILE WAS ASSEMBLED FROM THIS DATA BY "MaryA"

THE RESTORATION OF THE HEADSTONE WAS CO-ORDINATED BY "MissM"