Four British soldiers killed in action during the First World War were today being buried with full military honours in France at the Ecoust-Saint-Mein cemetery.
Two of the soldiers have been identified and members of their families were attending the burials along with Prince Michael of Kent.
Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard and Private Christopher Douglas Elphick were both killed during the Battle of Arras on May 15, 1917.
The remains of their bodies were discovered in 2009 by a farmer.
Lt Pritchard, who was 31, was identified by a silver identity bracelet, and Pte Elphick, 28, by a signet ring carrying his initials. Both were in the Honourable Artillery Company which is based at Armoury House in City Road.
Lt Pritchard, who survived the Battle of the Somme, was a former chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, and had sung at state occasions including royal weddings.
Pte Elphick, a London insurance clerk, joined up in 1915, three months after the birth of his son, Ronald Douglas, who served in the HAC during the Second World War.
Ronald Douglas’s sons, Chris and Martin Elphick, were due to attend the ceremony, and the Pritchard family were to be represented by his nephew Harold Shell and great nieces Janet Shell and Jennifer Sutton. DNA samples have been taken from the unidentified troops — who will be interred as “HAC soldiers known unto God” — which could enable them to be identified in the future.
