Lilleshall war victim honoured
A graveside ceremony attended by family members has been held to commemorate the centenary of the death of one of the last Shropshire victims of the First World War.
Lilleshall-born Private James Reginald Plevin lost an eye in the fighting and died aged 25, several months after the Armistice.
He was buried in St Michael's Church cemetery extension at Lilleshall after his death on April 21, 1919, where the Royal British Legion organised the graveside service, during which a wreath was laid and RBL representatives were present.
As plans were made to honour him, researcher Jane Hodgson was able to discover more details about his life and service.
Born in 1894, he became a gamekeeper, living at Duhonow Lodge, Builth Wells. He enlisted in January 1915, joining the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, fighting on the Western Front with the 1st Battalion.
He was injured with a gunshot wound to his left eye in September 1916. Sent back to Britain, his eye was removed in hospital.
He was subsequently transferred to the reserve, serving with the Remount Service at Hardwick, before being discharged in August 1917 as "physically unfit for war."
The cause of his later death is not known and, unusually, there appears to have been no mention of his death or funeral in contemporary newspapers, even though a 97-year-old Muxton resident who has since died, speaking some years ago and remembering the funeral from his childhood, recalled it had been a big affair.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website describes him as being the son of John and Jane Plevin living in 1917 at 3 School Road, Donnington.
