A Kilmarnock World War One soldier was finally laid to rest over 100 years after his death.
Private (Pte) William Johnston died on September 26, 1915 during the Battle of Loos and he was laid to rest with full military honours a century after he died.
The service was organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (MOD JCCC), also known as the “MOD War Detectives”, and was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Loos British Cemetery, Loos-en-Gohelle in northern France.
The remains were recovered in January 2018 during a WW1 ordnance search near Lens. Also found was a pocket watch and a spoon with the number '13228' stamped on the back.
MOD JCCC and the CWGC confirmed it to be the regimental number of Pte Johnston, aged 39, of 7th battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, having cross referenced it with war records that also confirmed he was the only casualty with this number who did not have a known burial place.
The MOD JCCC traced a great-great-niece who provided a DNA sample to compare with DNA taken from the remains.
The results were conclusive. Pte Johnston’s service records no longer exist, so not much personal information is known about him.
Sharon Williamson, of Portadown, County Armagh, Pte Johnston’s great-great-niece and DNA donor, said: "I was sent an email by a relative in America who had been contacted by the MOD War Detectives to say that they had found remains from the Great War.
"They asked for my DNA, that was the start of our journey. Later, once it was confirmed that William was our relative, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to be here and pay our respects to a family member that, though we didn’t know, we did not want him to be alone on his final journey.”
The remains of another British soldier were found separately in the same area. Although it was not possible to identify him by name, MOD JCCC did confirm he served with the East Yorkshire Regiment due to two East Yorkshire shoulder titles being found with the remains.
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