War hero laid to rest 100 years on
SOLDIER WHO DIED IN FIRST WORLD WAR BURIED AT SPECIAL CEREMONY
HE LAY undiscovered where he fell for more than 100 years.
Now a First World War soldier from Manchester has been laid to rest at a war graves cemetery with full military honours.
The poignant ceremony for Second Lieutenant Leslie Wallace Ablett – and eight other fallen soldiers – was held at Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium.
The remains of eight of the nine servicemen were discovered during engineering works near Ypres three years ago, while those of the ninth serviceman were found separately.
Only seven, including 2nd Lt Ablett, have been identified. The seven served together in 11th Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers, and died within days of each other during the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917.
Their bodies, like those of so many of their comrades who died on the battlefields of the First World War, had been missing for a century.
2nd Lt Ablett, born in Withington, was the son of Joseph and Caroline Ablett, and brother to Frederick.
By 1911 his family had moved south and were living in Streatham, London. He was described as ‘bright, cheerful and of good tone,’ and was also a keen poet and writer.
He was just 20 when he died. It’s understood his uniform was found with his remains, still partially intact, together with his ID tags and other personal effects.
The ‘war detectives,’ as the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) team are known, were able to track down surviving family members to complete identifications with DNA testing.
Shots rang out in the Belgian countryside as the fallen soldiers were given full military honours at the service, which was attended by many of their surviving families.
What started as a grey and rainy morning broke into sunshine as the coffins were carried into the cemetery, draped in Union flags. The Duke of Kent attended alongside members of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who honoured the soldiers with a gun salute. Leading the service, Reverend Gary Watt paid tribute to their sacrifice. He said: “Today we remember with thanksgiving these brave men whom, alongside so many others, answered the call of their country, served with honour and gave their lives in the service of their nation.
“In so doing let us commit ourselves anew to remember their courage. For by so doing we honour their memory and we reflect upon that sacrifice.”
2nd Lt Ablett was Rachel Fixsen’s first cousin three times removed.
She attended the ceremony to pay her respects and said: “For me personally looking into his history… and also reading accounts about how these soldiers fought, what it was like for them on the front line and behind the front line, that’s really brought it home to me what happened and what they went through, and ultimately died.
“I thought the service was beautiful, it was meticulously organised and carried out and just the best way to honour these men.”
The six other identified soldiers buried were 2nd Lieutenant Edward Douglas Bruty, Sergeant Thomas Feasby, Lance Corporal Stanley Blakeborough, Private Harry Miller, Private Joseph Patrickson MM and Private Arnold Sanderson MM. The eldest was just 32.