SOME 300 miles - including the English Channel - separates the small towns of Nantyglo in Blaenau Gwent, and Lavantie, in the northern Hauts-de-France region of France.

Yet the two communities are inextricably linked with the life and death of a Welsh soldier killed in action in the winter of 1915.

The story of an ordinary life irrevocably interrupted by the Great War is common to millions of soldiers, seamen, and airmen from all corners of the globe, plucked from families and jobs and cast into brutal theatres of conflict, many never to return.

That was the fate of this Welsh soldier, Rifleman Morgan Samuel Austin, of the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Rifle Brigade.

His descendants tell his story with pride, more than a century on - and the discovery of an ornate gravestone in a Nantyglo cemetery that was until recently neglected and overgrown, gives poignant insight into the effect of his loss, and the crushing burden countless families 'back home' had to try to bear.

When members of Nantyglo's Hermon Cemetery Trust, which has taken on responsibility for the cemetery, discovered the eyecatching Austin family gravestone during a clean-up of the site earlier this year, they were puzzled.

For Morgan Austin, whose name is on the memorial, is buried in the Fauquissart Military Cemetery, in Laventie, several miles west of the city of Lille.

Rifleman Austin was just 24 years old when he was killed in action near Lavantie on January 14 1915.

Trust members discovered that an Austin family lived in Bournville, in nearby Blaina, at the time. But they were keen to know more, including why Rifleman Austin came to be commemorated in Hermon Cemetery.

With a little help from the South Wales Argus, in the form of a story requesting information, descendants of Morgan Austin got in touch with the trust.

Last summer, Judy Austin, and daughter Emma visited Hermon Cemetery to see close-up the memorial where her great uncle is commemorated. It is also where his mother Sarah Jane, father James, and a brother, Haydn, are buried.

The reason behind Morgan Austin's name being on the memorial remains unclear, but it is most likely a simple means for a grief-stricken family to remember close to home a loved one killed overseas.

During the First World War, newspapers were the primary means of garnering information about the conflict though coverage, like the letters servicemen wrote home, was subject to strict censorship.

The first that families knew that a loved one had died in action was the arrival of a telegram informing them of the death.

The ongoing chaos of war meant that often the fallen were buried in makeshift cemeteries, and it was of course impossible for families to visit a grave. Even had that been possible, and even after the war had ended and some order had been restored, a trip to northern France or Belgium was beyond the means of many.

It made sense then, for the names of dead servicemen to be added to family gravestones and memorials at home. No-one was going to forget them, but it was a symbolic means of bringing them back into the family fold, even in death - a small act to aid the grieving process.

Morgan Austin's death sadly took its toll back in Nantyglo. Ms Austin, who lives in Berkshire, said her grandfather Thomas Austin spoke little of his brother, but she understood from others that the pair were pranksters, and that their mother Sarah Jane Austin died of a broken heart just 13 months after Morgan was killed.

Morgan Austin had worked in collieries in the area and despite a mining-related eye problem was a fine marksman, gaining first place in his squad's musketry training.

His last letter home, in January 1915, details life in the trenches, the challenges of the mud, and danger from German snipers.

Surprised at himself for "sticking it so well", he signs off: "Remember me to all who are inquiring about me." By the time it reached the family home in Bournville however, he was dead.

"My father came here some years ago, but it was overgrown and he couldn't find the grave, so it's nice to see it now," said Ms Austen.

"It would be lovely to see it restored."

The cemetery originally belonged to Hermon Welsh Baptist Chapel, which was below it, at the corner of Queen Street and Ffosmaen Road, Nantyglo, on a site now occupied by a medical centre.

Trustees Graham Rowlands, Peter Baldwin, Alan Williams and Gary Godwin hope Rifleman Austin's grave can be restored.

Eighteen months ago the cemetery was weed-choked, with boundary hedges so thick, several rows of graves could not be reached. Now, with the help of Nantyglo resident Denzil Wright, it has been cleared and has even hosted a burial after lying dormant for decades.

"Until a few months ago, a lot of the site couldn't be reached, it was so overgrown," said Mr Baldwin.

"It's a big project and there's lots to do - clearing up, restoring graves and researching - and we hope to have a website soon."