PENSIONER Maude Smewin has spoken of her sadness after it emerged that remains of 20 First World War soldiers unearthed in a mass grave in France may include those of her Uncle Charles.

Miss Smewin, of Hughenden Avenue, High Wycombe, is now hoping the remains can be formally identified so that her "Uncle Charlie" can have the proper burial he deserves.

A lost patrol of 20 "Grimsby Chums" are thought to be the skeletons found lying side by side during an archaeological dig in a corn field in Arras, northern France more than 84 years after they were killed.

"I was only a young girl when we heard that Uncle Charlie wasn't coming back," she said.

"I don't know what to think they say it might be him. I heard he may have had an ID badge but I'm not sure."

It is thought the infantrymen were from the 10th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, reported missing after heavy fighting on April 9,1917, after military historians reportedly found three badges bearing the battalion's name.

Charles Smewin, of Desborough Avenue, was 28 when he died and worked for chair and cabinetmakers Nicholls and Jones in St Mary's Street, High Wycombe.