The ultimate sacrifice of a First World War Angus Black Watch soldier has at last been honoured in a poignant Belgian ceremony at his final resting place.
Private David Graham was killed at Ypres as the 8th Battalion defended the front line against the Germans.
But the identity of the young man buried in a military cemetery there had remained a mystery.
Now, almost 104 years to the day the 20-year-old Carnoustie soldier fell, a rededication ceremony of the Private’s grave has been staged.
He is one of six British servicemen whose stories have been pieced together by a group known as the MoD’s ‘war detectives’.
Representatives of the modern-day equivalents of their historic regiments were at the sombre ceremonies.
Those were held in Commonwealth cemeteries on the former Western front.
Who was Private Graham?
David Graham was born in 1898.
His parents were John and Catherine (nee Christie) Graham and the 1901 census shows the family living in Panbride, near Carnoustie.
David was the youngest in a family of six.
Tragically, his mother died young in 1915, just three years before her son’s war death.
Divisional war diary records show the 8th Battalion filling a gap in the line in late October 1918.
And following his death on October 24, Private Graham was buried in Vichte military cemetery.
Burial officers of 9th and 31st Divisions conducted the ceremony.
But the Angus soldier was not identified by name at the time.
Research has also revealed David’s brother, Edward, emigrated to Canada and married Ada Hand.
They had three children; one of whom (Ethel) married Evan Kaechele in 1948 and had four children together.
All of the family are still in North America and Canada.
So although the Angus serviceman’s descendants were unable to attend the Belgian ceremony, they now know the final resting place of their family forebear.
In 2014, a statue of a kilted soldier wearing the famous Red Hackle was unveiled at Black Watch Corner near Ypres.
It honours the regiment’s 8,960 officers and soldiers who died, as well as more than 20,000 of its men wounded in the conflict.
The War Detectives
The services were organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’.
They took place at various Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries. The services were conducted by the Rev. Andy Nicolls.
And alongside representatives of the Royal Regiment of Scotland of which the Black Watch is the 3rd Battalion, were figures from the Royal Fusiliers, Mercian Regiment and Royal Logistics Corps.
Louise Dorr of the MOD said: “Our thanks go to several of our regular researchers, who have investigated these six graves and been able to prove who is buried in each of them.
“Thanks to their efforts we have been able to confirm their findings and return these soldiers’ names to them.
“I’m so honoured to have been able to be here to rededicate their final resting places.”
The headstones over their graves will be replaced by CWGC as part of the rededication.
Geert Bekaert of the CWGC said: “We are privileged to be able to honour these six brave men, who all paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting in the Great War.
“Thanks to the research and work of many, we are able to renew our commitment to care for these soldiers’ graves, in perpetuity”
