Grave of missing WW1 soldier rededicated to him
MODA missing soldier from Surrey has had a previously unnamed grave rededicated to him, 108 years after his death.
While leading a group of men fighting German soldiers during World War One, 2nd Lt Frank Fleming, from Guildford, died near Hollebeke in Belgium on 11 April 1918.
After being listed as missing for years, Fleming's grave was eventually found in the Voormezeele Enclosure No.3 in Ypres, where the gravestone was replaced with one carrying his name at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Catherine Neil, of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said it had been "a privilege" for the commission to be involved in his identification.
She added: "We shall continue to care for his grave, alongside his comrades, in perpetuity."
Born on 15 October 1894 in Guildford, Fleming was the son of Alexander and Mary Fleming.
MODHe had two brothers, James and Alexander, who also died in WW1.
According to the 1901 census, he worked on Hoe Bridge Farm in Woking, before moving to London to work as a market clerk for a cocoa merchant by 1911.
He would later join the army though his war record no longer survives, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
In April 1918, he was leading a group into attack when he was seriously wounded, before ordering his men to leave him and get to safety.
While his body was unable to be recovered, he was later listed as missing and was commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Research by the MoD found Fleming had been initially buried in the Hollebeke area where he died, but was then later moved to the Voormezeele Enclosure, where an unmarked grave has now been rededicated to him.
His grave was found by the MoD's "war detective" group, who help to identify the unnamed graves of soldiers killed in wars, and attempt to identify the remains of British soldiers found in former battlegrounds.
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