A GRANDFATHER from Wrexham has spoken about how he managed to track down and visit the grave of his uncle, who was killed during WWII, in a French village.

Philip H Eveson, from Borras Park, spotted an appeal in The Leader back in 2014, asking for any living relatives of a Royal Welch Fusilier killed during combat in 1944.

The fusilier in question was Harold Thomas, who was the uncle of Mr Eveson.

After contacting the appealer, he was able to trace the village in France where his uncle was buried and travelled with his family last week to visit the grave for the first time.

Speaking about the original appeal, Mr Eveson, 76, said: “In 2014, a Mrs Bennett from Mid Wales made an appeal in the Wrexham Leader seeking to track down living relatives of a Wrexham soldier killed in action during the Second World War.

“She had spotted that the war grave of her uncle, Idris Emlyn Smith, in France lay next to a Harold Thomas, who happened to be my uncle.

“I saw this appeal and contacted Mrs Bennett and it was through her that I found out exactly where my Uncle Harold's grave was to be found. Mrs Bennet also kindly gave me a copy of the letter from Captain T Davies of the 7th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers to Idris Smith's wife, relating the circumstances of how the two soldiers had met their death.

“My uncle, Harold Thomas, was married to Violet in 1938 and lived on Jubilee Road, Wrexham, but they had no children. His father, Harry Thomas, was one of the managers of the Dairy that existed in Wrexham at the top of Pentre Felin near Bellevue Park.

“Before I saw this appeal, I knew that my uncle was killed during the Second World War, but I didn’t have an inkling as to where he was buried.

“My father had given me a picture of him in his uniform, and I also had a picture of the original wooden cross they had planted where he was killed, but I didn’t have a clue where that was.”

Mr Eveson and his wife, daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren all travelled together to the village of Brucamps, a commune in the Somme department in northern France.

They visited the grave on Wednesday, August 28, and Mr Eveson described it as a very moving experience for him.

He said: “This year, being the 75th anniversary when my uncle was killed in action against the Germans on 3 September 1944, I decided to take my family to look up the place where his body was laid.

“I was still a baby when my uncle was killed and as my mother, Harold's sister, died when I was young, I had lost touch with that side of the family.

“But I did have a letter that my parents had sent to Harold and which was returned to them by the Army Post with the words 'It is regretted that this item could not be delivered because the addressee is reported deceased' stamped on the front of the envelope.

“We got in touch with the local French village historian, Mathieu Lecul, who kindly agreed to show us where the graveyard was and also the place where my uncle and his fellow soldier, Corporal Idris Smith, were shot.

“Last week we made the journey to the little village of Brucamps in northern France near the river Somme and about 18 miles north-west of Amiens.

“It was an unforgettable moment and a very moving experience when we entered the communal village cemetery and saw the two military graves. The local historian then took us to the spot where they were killed. It appears that a party of 8 RWF soldiers had encountered about 100 of the enemy as they were leaving the village.

“During the action that followed 30 prisoners were taken and two Germans were killed but it also resulted in the death of my uncle Harold and Corporal Smith. Both men were 30 years old.

“We thank the Wrexham Leader for printing the original appeal that led to this memorable outcome.”