110 years after their death: soldiers of the First World War buried

Two soldiers killed in World War I over a century ago have finally been buried.

Private Charles Lightfoot and Sergeant John Smith died two months after the war began.

They were killed during the Battle of the Aisne in France in September 1914, but their bodies were not found until 15 years ago.

Gunner Lightfoot’s granddaughter Sue Kruk travelled from her home on Hayling Island, Hampshire, to France to attend the military funeral ceremony in her honour.

In 2009, French historian Jerome Buttet was examining war graffiti in a cave near Chassemy and discovered a makeshift grave with an inscription.

It read: “15 Sept. 1914, here lies Sjt Smith and 3 Gnrs, 29th Battery RFA.”

Mr. Buttet commissioned archaeologists who discovered two sets of remains in the cave.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) detectives at Imjin Barracks in Gloucestershire conducted investigations and DNA tests which enabled them to identify the two fallen men as Sergeant Smith from Gloucestershire and Gunner Lightfoot from Edinburgh.

Both served in the 29th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery.

Mrs. Kruk still has a box of her grandmother Netty Lightfoot’s belongings. Among the items she kept was a letter dated October 18, 1914, more than a month after Gunner Lightfoot’s death.

It read: “It is my painful duty to inform you that a report has been received today from the War Office announcing the death of Gunner Charles Lightfoot.

“The cause of death was killed in action.”

Mrs. Lightfoot was pregnant when her husband went to France.

“It was so hard for women in World War I,” said Ms. Kruk.

“A whole generation of men left, and that was horrific, and then a whole generation of women had to deal with the loss.”

Both soldiers were buried with full military honours on 13 June at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Vendresse British Cemetery in France.

Ms Kruk said of the service: “I think it is the end of a chapter and it is a beautiful conclusion after all the sadness.”