Relatives of bereaved Hinckley WW1 mothers to attend ceremony

The mothers attended the service to lay the foundation stone of the memorial in 1921

The relatives of six mothers who each lost three sons in World War One are to attend a special ceremony following an appeal to locate them all.

The event to commemorate the centenary of the war memorial in Hinckley, Leicestershire, will take place next week.

The mothers attended a service to lay the foundation stone in 1921.

Historian Greg Drozdz said family members for each mother had been found and agreed to take part.

In November 1921, six local mothers took part in a service to lay the foundation stone for the memorial in Argents Mead.

The memorial was officially unveiled and dedicated six months later.

The memorial was officially unveiled in May 1922

The ceremony to mark the centenary of the war memorial is due to take place on 20 May.

Mr Drozdz said: "What we'd planned to do was try to recreate some of the atmosphere, some of the spirit, of the dedication 100 years ago."

Mr Drozdz said he wanted this year's ceremony to recreate some of the atmosphere 100 years ago

It was originally believed there were five mothers in attendance, but it later emerged there had also been a sixth.

Organisers wanted to find their relatives and invite them to attend, but some were easier to find than others.

Last month an appeal was launched to find the remaining relatives in time for the event.

With just a few days the spare, the last family was tracked down on Tuesday.

Mr Drozdz said relatives of Mary Ann Dixon - whose sons Joseph, Herbert and William were killed in action in France - were found on the internet by a museum volunteer.

"They were all happy and wanting to be involved in our commemoration next week," he said.