Family pay tribute to fallen Great War soldier
Thomas Campbell and dad Adrian at the grave of family member Alexander Robertson in Arras Memorial - Credit: Archant
A father and son from Huntingdonshire have travelled to France to visit the grave of a relative, 100 years to the day that he was killed in the Battle of the Somme.
Alexander Robertson Campbell - Credit: Archant
Thomas Campbell and dad Adrian made the four-hour journey from their home in Warboys to Fauborg D’Amiens Cemetery, in Arras, France, where Thomas’s great-great uncle, Corporal Alexander Campbell, is buried.
“It was a really emotional journey but it was a great honour that we were there to be able to remember a fallen family member,” said Thomas, 21.
The pair decided to make the trip after Adrian’s cousin discovered that Alexander had died on September 4 at the age of 23.
“Everyone thought it was a really nice thing to do and were really proud of us for going to do it.”
It is believed that Alexander was a member of the Essex Regiment, as he lived in Saffron Walden, before he went to war but it is not known what his exact role was.
“We couldn’t imagine how it would have been for him on the battlefields, and as we are of a similar age it made me feel even more proud to be able to remember him,” added Thomas.
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While visiting the memorial the father and son were astonished to speak to another family, whose loved one had died on the same day as Alexander and was also in the Essex Regiment.
Thomas, who works as a trainee surveyor, said: “It felt so surreal that they died together but 100 years later both families travelled to go and remember them.”
