The remains of two First World War soldiers were finally laid to rest today, almost a century after they were killed in action.

Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick, of The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), were re-interred in the HAC Cemetery at Ecoust-St Mein near Arras in France.

Relatives of both men, who were killed on May 15, 1917, during an enemy attack near Bullecourt, while serving with the HAC's 2nd Battalion, travelled to France for the ceremony where the men, along with two unidentified comrades, were buried with full military honours.

More than 300 people attended the ceremony, including Prince Michael of Kent in his capacity as HAC Royal Honorary Colonel.

The men were buried just two miles from where they fell in Bullecourt next to the Hindenburg Line.

Lt Pritchard, who survived the Battle of the Somme and a gunshot wound to the neck, was killed alongside Pte Elphick when their battalion was attacked in the early hours of May 15, 1917 during the second Battle of Bullecourt.

Their remains were found in 2009 by elderly farmer Didier Guerle, along with those of two other unidentified HAC soldiers.

Mr Guerle has never ploughed the field but unearthed one of the soldier's gas canisters in 2009, then dug a little deeper to remove it, finding the remains.