THE unmarked grave of a decorated First World War pilot from Bromsgrove has finally been rededicated with full military honours, exactly 101 years after his death.

Lieutenant Leonard Cameron Kidd MC served as a Royal Flying Air Corps (RFC) aviator in France when he was believed to have been shot down by anti-aircraft fire on October 12, 1916.

He was killed alongside his observer Second Lieutenant Fenton Ellis Stanley Phillips at the age of 23, but for a century the whereabouts of their graves remained unknown.

As it was common practice for aircrews to be buried together, the pair were unknowingly laid to rest in a grave at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, France, marked ‘A British Airman of the Great War’.

Yet painstaking research by retired Royal Canadian Navy Officer Lieutenant Commander Steve St-Amant has now revealed that the two plots in fact belonged to the decorated aviators.

And in a moving ceremony near The Somme on Thursday, October 12, their final resting place was finally marked exactly 101 years after their deaths.

Mr St-Amant said: “I was ecstatic when I first got the news that their graves were to be rededicated. I also felt my research had been validated.

“Despite the fact these two young men lost their lives 101 years ago, they have been the catalyst for something wonderful.

“I will continue to do this research where I can simply because I want to see unknowns come out of the cold. We owe it to them and their families, regardless of the passage of time.”

Lieutenant Kidd’s second cousin Julian Ironside, a former RAF Pilot himself, said: “My response was real happiness that Steve was able to carry out such research to enable this to come to fruition and finally have this aviator’s last resting place be recognised.”

Mr St-Amant discovered the graves belonged to the two aviators after finding individuals buried in these plots had been recovered from the same location the duo were operating in.

He also found that both casualties were wearing RFC uniforms, and both wore the ribbon of the Military Cross, which the two had both been awarded in 1916.

Bromsgrove’s Kidd was also awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

His service, organised by the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) was attended by personnel from the current 3 (Fighter) Squadron Royal Air Force.

Also present was the UK Embassy in Paris, Standard Bearers from the Royal British Legion, and pupils and Combined Cadet Force representatives from Bromsgrove School, which Lieutenant Kidd attended.