The WW1 soldier given his name back after 100 years

In 1915 Cpl George Thomas Manning of Ipswich was killed in World War One - but it would take more than 100 years to find his body.

The soldier from the Suffolk Regiment 2nd Battalion was killed fighting in Belgium and his wife and two daughters died never knowing where he was buried.

In 2019 human remains were found in a ditch near Ypres and confirmed to be his. Alexia Clark, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) detective who solved the mystery said: "It's always a nice feeling to be able to give a man back his name."

With a full military funeral in Belgium now planned, the MOD and the Ipswich War Memorial are searching for Manning's descendants so they might attend.

Manning was born in 1881 in Ipswich and was one of nine siblings.

In 1905 he married Florence Elizabeth Bayles and they had two daughters.

When war broke out in 1914 Manning found himself fighting in Kemmel near Ypres in Belgium the following year.

The men dealt with sniper fire and shelling and 140 lives were lost, including Manning who died on 9 March 1915 aged 34.

His name was memorialised on the Menin Gate in Ypres that honours 55,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the area and have no known grave.

Alexia Clark, an MOD war detective, said the human remains were found in Kemmel in 2019 during ditch clearance work.

They were recovered and taken by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to a mortuary in France.

In 2024, the MOD received a report stating artefacts with the body included two brass badges with the word Suffolk on them.

The MOD determined that only the 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment was ever in this area of Belgium and that 26 of the bodies of the men killed were still missing.

Clark started to build family trees of the missing men to locate living relatives and ask them to provide a DNA sample to see if they matched with the remains.

Clark said: "I had been through six other men before I actually managed to get a match and prove that this particular man is George Thomas Manning.

"It's a really thrilling feeling when you get that report that comes through from the DNA contractors and it is, 'Yes, you've got it this time'.

"Especially when you've potentially got quite a lot of casualties to work through and to try and narrow it down from."

The person who matched with Manning was a two-times great-nephew. Two other relatives have since been found including one in Australia.

It is not believed Manning's daughters had children of their own. However as he was one of nine children, Clark expected there to be many relatives out there.

The MOD sought the help of Ipswich War Memorial to find other possible relatives still in Suffolk.

Andrew Beal from the group said they had researched Manning about 10 years ago and it was "wonderful" his relatives would at last be given closure.

He said: "It probably was quite upsetting after the war [for Manning's family] to realise there was no grave and they couldn't find it.

"Over the years, we've come across letters and things from families, and they're absolutely heartbroken that there is no grave to visit.

"There's just a plaque on the wall – it's not the same really."

A full military funeral for Manning will be held next spring in Belgium, with his remains laid to rest in a cemetery with others from the Suffolk Regiment.

Anyone who thinks they may be a relation of Manning is encouraged to get in touch with the MOD and Ipswich War Memorial so they might be able to attend.

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