The family of a war hero from Easterton who died 100 years ago have made a pilgrimage to his grave with the First World War medals he never knew he had received.

Herbert Pinchin died on October 23, 1914, in a Newcastle hospital after being injured in action during the first months of the First World War.

The 32-year-old sergeant, who was born in Devizes and then moved to Easterton, had a 16-year career in the Wiltshire Regiment. He served in the Boer War before being called up after the start of the First World War.

Joan Pinchin, who married Herbert’s great nephew William Pinchin, travelled from the Midlands to Jesmond Cemetery with the medals on the centenary of his death.

She said: “The medals have always been in our household.

“I was talking to my daughter, Vanessa, a few months back and her partner Michael and I went online and started to find out all sorts about Herbert.

“We realised he was buried in Newcastle after speaking to one of my husband’s uncles. They had kept his memory alive.”

Mr Pinchin, who never married, was with the Wiltshire Regiment from 1898 until his death in 1914 and was decorated for his service. He was injured in September 1914 and transferred to a hospital in Newcastle where he died a month later.

Mrs Pinchin and her daughter’s partner Michael Clarke made the 344-mile round trip from their homes in Stretton, Staffordshire, to visit the grave with the medals.

She said: “It was very moving and very poignant. We had the medals put on a pin. He had served in South Africa and received two medals but he never received the ones from Mons.”

Mrs Pinchin said it would not be the last visit the family makes to the grave.

They also attended a Remembrance Service in Easterton church on Sunday.