It must be terrible to lose your brother and not know what happened to him
His great nephew Barrie Richmond, 74, a retired BT manager from Nottingham, said: "He was one of eight children but was not talked about in the family at all after the war. I think it was too painful for them.
"I find it quite humbling. We will now have a memorial to someone who gave his life. It is nice for the family to know that this will be there fore the future."
The other soldiers identified are: Pte John Brameld from Sheffield, Corporal Francis Dyson from Wakefield, Pte John Jarvis from Rotherham, Pte Leonard Morley from Boxhill, Surrey, Pte Ernest Oxer from Rotherham and Pte William Singyard from Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Defence Minister Lord Astor of Hever said:
“Our thoughts remain with all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. Although these soldiers fell almost a century ago, the Ministry of Defence still takes its responsibility extremely seriously to identify any remains found, trace and inform surviving relatives and to provide a fitting and dignified funeral so they rest in peace.”
Commodore Ian Bisson, from the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, which identified the soldiers, said: “This has been a difficult but very successful piece of work for the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre team and we have identified far more of the fallen than we first hoped.
"We can still identify some of the remaining five sets of remains and would appeal to those who think they may be family members to get in touch with us.”
The dead had no known grave and are commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.
The York and Lancaster Regiment was greatly increased in size during the Great War and grew to 22 battalions.
It recruited 57,000 men of all ranks during the war, with 48,650 becoming casualties of whom 8,814 died.
The regiment won 190 gallantry awards including four Victoria Crosses.
The Regiment was disbanded in 1968.
The investigation to identify the other five men found at the same building site continues and the team would particularly like to hear from relatives of:
Lance Sergeant George Edwardes from Middlesbrough, Pte Horace Foster from Sheffield, Pte Ross Jeff from Moss, Doncaster, Pte Gavin Lowe from Alyth, Perthshire, Pte William Sunderland from Ripley, Derbyshire and Pte David Williams from Thornaby, Stockton on Tees.
• Anyone who thinks they may be related to these soldiers should contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre team on 01452 712612 (Ext 6303).
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