I hope more war heroes can be identified and given proper burials, says relative
Sharon Williamson, the great-great-niece of Private William Johnston, attended his funeral in France on Thursday.

The great-great-niece of a soldier who died in the Battle of Loos more than a century ago has said she hopes more families will be able to see their war hero relatives identified and given the burial they deserve.
The remains of Private William Johnston, of the 7th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, were laid to rest on Thursday at the Loos British Cemetery in France with full military honours.
Sharon Williamson, 48, Pte Johnstonās great-great-niece, watched as members of the Royal Regiment of Scotland lowered his remains into their final resting place at the cemetery.
She said: āOnce we found out he was our relative, we couldnāt miss this opportunity to be here to say thank-you and pay our final respects to a family member that we didnāt know. We just wanted to be here so he wasnāt alone on his final journey.
āEvery Remembrance Day his name was called out, so we knew of the name but we didnāt know of the story.
āWe didnāt know where he died, we didnāt know when he died, we didnāt know what age he was. So itās really when you start to look at your family tree, that these things start to come up. And thatās when the story started to come alive.ā
Ms Williamson, of County Armagh, praised the work of the MoDās Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, which identified his remains thanks to a spoon found nearby and a sample of her DNA.
She added: āIt brings āLest we forgetā right into peopleās faces, and that over a 100 years ago these men are not forgotten about and theyāre given the respect and the military burial that they deserve. It brings home that these people can never be forgotten.
āThereās so many more out there and we hope that families like us will be able to put a name to them, and have the same ceremony that we have had today.ā
Pte Johnstonās remains were discovered on January 1 2018, during a routine survey of the site in Lens for leftover shells and bombs when a new hospital was being built.
The Battle of Loos took place from September 25 to October 8 1915. It was the biggest British attack of the year, and the front lines ran through the hospital site his remains were discovered at in 2018.