Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Family of WW1 hero sought after grave discovered

The family of Private John Anderson is being sought.
The family of Private John Anderson is being sought.

An appeal for the family of a north-east First World War hero has been launched after his grave site has finally been identified 102 years after his death.

Gordon Highlander Private John Anderson was killed on April 28, 1915 whilst fighting in the trenches in Vlamertinghe area of West Ypres in Belgium.

His final resting place was unknown but, through research undertaken by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, clear and convincing evidence has been presented that he was buried soon after his death at Birr Cross Roads Cemetery in Ypres.

Now the JCCC is seeking members of his family or anyone who knew him to get in touch so they can be invited to attend a rededication of his grave to be held later this year.

Sue Raftree MBE, of the JCCC said: “We were in receipt of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial documentation for the Birr Cross Roads Cemetery which showed an unknown soldier of the 4th Battalion The Gordon Highlanders Regiment killed on 28 April, 1915.

“Further research showed that he was the only soldier killed from the 4th Battalion on that date without a grave. Therefore it could only be Private Anderson.”

Although his place and date of birth are both unknown at this point, the JCCC do know that Mr Anderson was single and the fifth son of baker James Anderson and his wife Annie. At the time of his death, they lived in Don Cottage in Port Elphinstone, Inverurie. Mr Anderson was a butcher with the Don Co-operative Society in Kemnay.

He enlisted in the army in Aberdeen between September 28 and October 30, 1914. He went on active service to France and Flanders in Belgium, landing in France to join his battalion on 26 March, 1915.

The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from April 22 to May 25 1915 and was the scene of the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front.

At the Armistice, Birr Cross Roads cemetery contained only nine irregular rows of graves but was greatly enlarged when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields.

If you are related or indeed know of the family, contact Sue Raftree on 01452 712612 extension 6303 or email her on: DBS-JCCCCommem1SO3@mod.uk