Two First World War soldiers have finally been laid to rest, almost a century after they were killed in action.
Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick, of The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), were re-interred in the HAC Cemetery at Ecoust-St Mein near Arras in France on Tuesday, alongside two fellow soldiers who have not been identified.
Lt Pritchard, who survived the Battle of the Somme and a gunshot wound to the neck, was killed alongside Pte Elphick on May 15 1917, during the second Battle of Bullecourt.
Their remains were found in a field in 2009 by farmer Didier Guerle.
Lt Pritchard was identified by a silver identity bracelet, and Pte Elphick by a gold signet ring bearing his initials, but it took three years to trace their relatives.
Yesterday family members of both men travelled to France to see them buried with full military honours, just two miles from where they were killed.
More than 300 people attended the ceremony, including Prince Michael of Kent, as HAC Royal Honorary Colonel.
Lt Pritchard and Pte Elphick, along with their comrades, were given full military honours, their coffins draped in the Union flag carried by bearer parties, accompanied by the HAC Band.
A military firing party fired a salute during the service and afterwards two of Lt Pritchard’s great-nieces and their husbands sang Crossing The Bar which he had played to his mother and sister before he left for France the final time.
The families were presented with the flag covering the coffins, as well as the identity bracelet and signet ring.
Lt Pritchard’s family were also given his officer’s sword, which he had made in September 1915 and left to his brother Ernest, who emigrated to the US in 1919.
An American collector who came across it has donated the sword back to the family.