A SEARCH of the Journal files helped an Essex woman in her bid to track down the grave of her grandfather who was killed in France during the First World War.

All Evelyn Beales, aged 69, of Berechurch Hall Road, Colchester, knew about Pte William Bennett was that he worked in a butcher's shop in Evesham before joining the Worcestershire Regiment and that he and his wife lived at 87 High Street, Evesham.

Because she did not have his Army number or even the name of the section he was with, efforts to trace his whereabouts were unsuccessful.

She turned to the Journal for help, and in an article on August 19, 1916 it said that Pte Bennett was reported missing after an engagement between July 6 and 10. There was nothing else about him until February 24, 1917, when it was reported: "On Sunday, Mrs Bennett heard from the War Office stating that her husband was killed in action on July 8 last. Mrs Bennett has two young children."

Armed with that information, she went to the War Graves Commission and found that Pte Bennett was buried in the Cemetery Thiepval Memorial, Somme, along with a reference number off the main Bapaume to Albert road.

"There is a major ceremony being held at the memorial on July 1 and I will try and find out more about this as my husband, Ivan and I would like to go," Mrs Beales said.

She added: "Many thanks to the Journal for making this possible."

Mrs Beales said her mother and aunt, the two children of Pte Bennett, moved to Colchester as young teenagers to live with an aunt when their mother died. She believed other relatives lived in Offenham.