A FATHER and daughter made an emotional 300-mile trip to Belgium to visit the grave of their soldier relative, marking the 100th anniversary of his death.

Andrew Tranter, 47, and his 17-year-old daughter Imogen visited the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground outside Ypres to pay their respects to his grandfather Charles.

Charles, who was a railway worker and well-known Fairfield footballer, served as a gunner in the First World War when he was killed at the Battle of Passchendaele on October 15, 1917.

Mr Tranter knew little detail about his grandfather’s life before research led him to a 1917 Bromsgrove Messenger report on his death, inspiring him to visit his grave for the first time.

He said: “There is nobody alive that knew him as the only ones that did died a long time ago, so visiting his grave made me feel a lot closer to him.

“It is quite a strange sensation when you walk in. There are tens of thousands who died. You just feel a shiver from the overwhelming sense of loss.

“It is an emotional place to go. It is really nice for Imogen to understand about her past too.

“We laid a wreath on his grave and on the card she put: ‘Thank you for giving your life so we can live ours’. For a 17 year old to come out with that is quite nice.”

The duo also visited Dunkirk to retrace the steps of Andrew’s father Edgar, who was evacuated from the beaches during the Second World War.