First World War soldier gets grave fit for a hero

PRIVATE'S REMAINS ARE FINALLY IDENTIFIED MORE THAN A CENTURY LATER

- JAMES CARTLEDGE

A BIRMINGHAM soldier's heroism has finally been recognised after his remains were identified more than a century after he fell on the Western Front.

Pte John Walton was just 20 when he died at Verbranden Molen, near Ypres in Belgium, on February 15, 1916, nine days after the 8th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment returned to the front line.

His body was recovered in August 1919 and re-buried at the nearby Perth (China Wall) Cemetery but he was not correctly identified and the grave was marked as that of an unknown soldier.

His resting place, now featuring a new headstone, has been rededicated at China Wall in a military ceremony.