THE remains of a soldier, discovered 85 years after he was killed in the First World War, have officially been identified as Bury fusilier Private Harry Wilkinson.

A forensics specialist this week formally confirmed the identity of the skeleton, which was unearthed in January last year in a field on the France-Belgium border.

The conclusion of the Ministry of Defence and War Graves Commission examination now means that Private Wilkinson can be properly laid to rest in a still-to-be arranged military funeral in Belgium.

Pte Wilkinson's story began in September 1914, when the 29-year-old left his job as a fireman at a Bury mill to join the 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. He was gunned down on November 10 when the 2nd LFs carried out a night attack on trenches and a farm at Ploegsteert Wood in Flanders, close to Ypres.

His well-preserved remains were uncovered 85 years later along with a rust-rotten military identification tag featuring Pte Wilkinson's service number.

The discovery also sparked a successful nationwide search, led by the Lancashire Fusilier Museum in Bury and the Bury Times, to find Pte Wilkinson's family, who will now be invited to the funeral later this year.

Captain John O'Grady, who is based at the Wellington Barracks museum, said: "There was never any doubt as to the identity of the skeleton, although forensic tests had to be carried out on the remains to formally confirm that the body was that of Pte Wilkinson.

"We can now go ahead with planning a fitting military funeral that this Lancashire Fusilier deserves."