FORMER Millom man Alan Dixon, who now lives in Barrow has been trying for several years to find out more about his great uncle who was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the First World War.
Company Sergeant Major Harold Pemberthy “Pem” Gendle, of Lapstone Road, Millom, died on March 15 in 1916 while serving with the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.
Mr Dixon has never had the opportunity to visit the soldier’s military grave in the Doullens Communal Cemetery No 1 in France but always wanted to see what his headstone looked like.
He was able to get a print of the individual headstone and a general view of the cemetery through the War Graves Photographic Project.
Mr Dixon said: “I’m dead chuffed about that. I never gave up on it.”
The project is based at Horndean, Hampshire, and has a team of volunteers taking pictures around the globe – more than 1.8m so far.
The coordinator is ex-Royal Navy man Steve Rogers and the aim is to make pictures available to relatives who might not be able to visit grave sites.
A modest donation is requested for pictures sent by email or prints sent by post.
You can find out more at the website at www.twgpp.org
A spokesman said: “The War Graves Photographic Project have undertaken the immense task of recording, archiving and making available to the descendants, images of the graves or memorial listings of every service casualty since the outbreak of the First World War.
“By utilising an archive of images taken by a dedicated band of volunteers situated around the world we are able to offer the facility to search for individual casualties and provide a photograph or digital image if required.
“Such a task is reliant solely on volunteers who give freely of their time and ability to visit, record and catalogue the many hundreds of thousands of graves and monuments scattered around the world. “
The Doullens Communal Cemery No. 1 is 30km north of Amiens on the road to Arras.
Doullens was the headquarters for French military leader Marshal Foch in the early part of the war.
Its Citadelle was a military hospital used by French and British troops.
The town was also the site of a casualty clearing station.
The cemetery has 1,335 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.
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