A Ross-on-Wye man has spoken about the emotional moment when he discovered the grave of his uncle who was killed in the First World War.
Terrence Wear had been told from a young age that the final resting place of his uncle Cecil, who died three days before the end of the conflict in 1918, was unknown.
But 78-year-old Terrence always believed otherwise, and after years of research he discovered Cecil’s grave during a trip to Northern France. He said: “I knew there had to be a grave somewhere, I just had a feeling.”
Terrence began his research into the possible whereabouts of his uncle’s final resting place around five years ago. Thanks to the help of a friend, Terrence was able to track the grave to a small cemetery in Fontaine-au-Bois, south of Lille.
Cecil Wear served with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. He was killed by shrapnel injuries to the head on November 8 1918,aged just 19. Mr Wear said: “It was quite emotional. I was pleased we had finally found him, but I was gutted for my father and my grandfather that they never knew his grave existed. They were such a close family.”
“I always felt it was something I had to do, and now I have laid it to rest.”
He plans to visit the grave again in the new year.
Some figures suggest that up to 20 per cent of military casualties are unidentified.
In 1920, the British buried an unknown soldier on behalf of all First World War British Empire forces in Westminster Abbey.
In July this year, work began on exhuming the remains of 200 British and Australian troops killed in North-Eastern France and re-burying them at plots at a new cemetery.
