'He was always remembered': Family attends WWI soldier's military burial in France

The family ofPte. John (Jack) Henry Thomas of New Brunswick helped lay him to rest Thursday, 101 years after the First World War soldier was killed in France.

Nieces and cousins of the 28-year-old Victoria County mankilled onAug. 19, 1917, during the Battle of Hill 70 said they attended the service to bring closure for the family a century later.

Niece JoyceLappagesaid her father was only seven years old in Birch Ridge, when his brother was killed on the outskirts of Lens in northernFrance.

No one in the family ever forgot about Thomas, she said.

"I'm thankful that I was able to come and make closure for our grandparents."

Thomas was a member of the26thCanadian Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, when he was killeda day shy of his one-year anniversary of enlisting in Saint John.

His remains were buried and lost until they were unearthed by a construction crew in 2016 in Lens.

Thomas was identifiedby the casualty identification program's Casualty Identification Review Board last October through historical, genealogical, anthropological, archeological and DNA analysis.

'Always knew about him'

Lappagesaid a picture of the VimyRidge monument and Thomas hung in the dining room of her family's home.

"We always knew about him," she said, adding she hung a picture of him in her own home when she moved to Ontario.

While doing research for a family tree,Lappagesaid, she was elated to receive Thomas's war records.

"He was always remembered by all family members. They all had pictures of him."

Lappage said she and other relatives at the service, some she met for the first time on the trip to France, felt blessed to be there.

"it does bring tears to your eyes and we haven't even started theceremony yet, so I'm sure it's going to be heartwarming."

Veterans Affairs Canadaassisted in having family present for Thomas's burialby his regiment at Commonwealth War Graves Commission'sLoosBritish cemeterynearVimy, France.

Thomas was buried with three other soldiers whose remains were found at the same construction site and identified as Pte. William Del Donegan, 20, Pte. Henry Edmonds Priddle, 33, and Sgt. Archibald Wilson, 25. All three soldiers enlisted in Winnipeg.

Thomas's name is engraved on the Vimy Memorial, which commemorates the more than 11,000 Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World Warwhose bodies were never recovered.