DNA could trace Bradford on Avon soldier killed in WWI battle
The family of a Bradford on Avon soldier who died in a First World War battle 93 years ago this month hope that DNA from a living relative will help to find his remains in a mass grave so they can give him a proper burial.
Westbury woman Rosina Clark, whose great uncle Private Walter John Deverell died in the Battle of Fromelles in northern France in July 1916, stumbled across the news of her relative’s death while researching her family tree and has been looking into his life for the past two years.
They found his name engraved on a plaque at Westwood Church near Bradford on Avon, along with all the names of other local men who lost their lives during the First World War, as he had lived in Avoncliff before serving the the Great War with The Gloucestershire Regiment.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has been in touch with Mrs Clark and her family, regularly updating them on the excavation work that is being carried out.
Read entire article at Wiltshire Times
Westbury woman Rosina Clark, whose great uncle Private Walter John Deverell died in the Battle of Fromelles in northern France in July 1916, stumbled across the news of her relative’s death while researching her family tree and has been looking into his life for the past two years.
They found his name engraved on a plaque at Westwood Church near Bradford on Avon, along with all the names of other local men who lost their lives during the First World War, as he had lived in Avoncliff before serving the the Great War with The Gloucestershire Regiment.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has been in touch with Mrs Clark and her family, regularly updating them on the excavation work that is being carried out.