He fell - alongside his rifle - on the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.
Aged just 26, Private Maurice Rosenthal had only been a soldier for five months.
The first day of the Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916, claimed the lives of almost 300 men from Manchester.
British casualties numbered 57,470 on the first day of fighting alone. Of those, 19,240 were killed.
It was just the start of a grim five-month ordeal that lasted until the November of that year.
By the end, there were more than a million casualties on both sides.
Now - 104 years after his death - Pte Rosenthal's life is being remembered and honoured after a rare discovery at the site of his death.
His gun - a Lee-Enfield 303 Calibre rifle - was found by gas company workers digging up ground near Thiepval in northern France.
It was discovered alongside his military name tag and had live ammunition inside.
Put up for auction, the rifle was secured by the Fusilier Museum in Bury, which is now appealing for the public's help to trace relatives of Pte Rosenthal.
It's not known exactly whether the rifle was ever fired at the Somme.
But the museum believes the discovery of the ammunition indicates the chances are it probably was.
The museum and The Lancashire Fusiliers Association are now on a mission to trace surviving family members so they can be re-united with the rifle when it is put on display next year.
The rifle was up for private auction last month and successfully bid on by the museum.
Pte Rosenthal served with C Company, 15th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers.
Records show he was born into the Jewish family of Simon and Betsy Rosenthal at 41 Exchange Street, Cheetham, Manchester, in 1888.
He had five sisters - Yetta, Leah, Kate, Mathilda and Jane - and one brother, Jacob.
He was also a member of the Jewish Lads Brigade and Manchester Synagogue.
Pte Rosenthal, the museum said, enlisted into the Lancashire Fusiliers on the December 29, 1915 and is buried at Connaught Cemetery, Thiepval.
The bullets were deactivated before sale and the French gas workers also found a pick said to belong to a soldier from the Royal Engineers.
Colonel Brian Gorski MBE, chairman of the Fusilier Museum, said the gun lay buried where Pte Rosenthal fell for more than a century.
"We are thrilled to have been able to secure this unique, rifle and bring it back home to the museum where it belongs," he said.
"We hope to tell Maurice's story in a special exhibition when we re-open later next year but it would be great if we could locate some of Maurice's family members so we can get them involved in the project too.
"A huge thank you to the Lancashire Fusilier Association also for their extensive research and support in enabling us to secure such a fabulous item for our collection."
The museum is currently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but hopes to open its doors again next year.
The Fusiliers Museum in Bury houses the existing Lancashire Fusiliers' artefacts and a Royal Regiment of Fusiliers collection.
The collections record and celebrate the deeds and values of the regiment and its soldiers from Bury, Rochdale, Salford and Lancashire.
Get breaking news first on the free Manchester Evening News app - download it here for your Apple or Android device. You can also get a round-up of the biggest stories sent direct to your inbox every day with the MEN email newsletter - subscribe here. And you can follow us on Facebook here.
