A Kent soldier whose sacrifice went unrecognised for more than a century will be honoured this Remembrance Sunday.

Frederick Chidwick first enlisted at a recruitment meeting in Shepherdswell near Dover on August 26 1914.

Despite taking part in some of the fiercest fighting in the early parts of the First World War, he has never been commemorated on any memorials across the country.

Living with his foster mother, Sarah Heyman, in Whittington Terrace, he worked as a miner when he joined The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in Canterbury as a Private in the 6th (Service) Battalion.

Mr Chidwick, who was born in Folkestone, went on to see action at Ploegsteert Wood on the Ypres Salient in June 1915 and later the Battle of Loos, where chlorine gas was used as a weapon for the first time.

On March 5 1916, his battalion was sent to the front line during fierce fighting around the Hohenzollern Redoubt, a German position near Loos-en-Gohelle in France.

He was killed the same day, with his body never recovered.

An officer later described the terrible conditions, recalling how soldiers “sank to their knees in mud and were caught by machine gun fire and German hand grenades as they foundered.”

Weeks later, his foster mother received a pressed flower and a photograph - mementoes Mr Chidwick had arranged to be sent to her in the event of his death.

Although his name is recorded on the Loos Memorial near Lens in France, he has never been recognised in this county.

Research by the Shepherdswell and Coldred History Society uncovered the story of the forgotten soldier, believed to be overlooked because of his unusual family circumstances and the fact that his body was never recovered.

Mr Chidwick has now been added to the village war memorial and will be read aloud for the first time during this year’s Remembrance Sunday service.

The society’s chair, Dr John Bulaitis, said: “We are very proud to have uncovered the story of this forgotten soldier.

“It is possible his sacrifice was overlooked because of the unconventional nature of his family relations.”