THE bravery of a First World War soldier was remembered 100 years on as part of a town hall ceremony.

A minute’s silence was observed at Burnley Town Hall on Tuesday as part of an event to remember Private Henry Smith, who was killed in action in France 100 years ago on April 24, 1918.

Private Smith, who lived in Burnley, was awarded the military medal and bar for his heroism in saving the lives of his comrades after, acting as a stretcher bearer, he repeatedly carried wounded comrades to safety over open ground while under constant enemy machine gun fire.

Mr Smith, of Richard Street, was a well-known Towneley miner before he enlisted in the Army in 1908.

The former St Mary's Roman Catholic School pupil later served in Africa with the 2nd East Lancashire Regiment when war was declared and in November 1914 he was drafted to France where he served until his death.

Private Smith's medals and other memorabilia were unveiled in a display cabinet at the town hall and will eventually be moved to a permanent display at Towneley Hall.

The items were gifted to Burnley Council by military memorabilia collector Mr Victor Freeman, who travelled more than 300 miles from his home in Plymouth to be at the event. Organisers said they tried to discover relatives of Private Smith but with no success.

Speaking to an audience of a dozen people, which included representatives from the Armed Forces Covenant, the Mayor of Burnley, Cllr Howard Baker, described the event as 'poignant' for recognising a young man from Burnley serving his country in the war on the centenary of his death.

He said: "(The display) highlights the story of all the men and boys from East Lancashire who found themselves in the trenches on the Somme, at Passchendaele and at Yypres.

"More than 4,000 soldiers from Burnley lost their lives in the course of the First World War – it had a massive impact on our borough.

“When peace finally came, people made a simple promise to those who had given their lives, or who had been injured or maimed.

"The promise was ‘we will remember’. We are helping to keep that promise.

"I want to state my thanks to Mr Vic Freeman for his generous donation of Private Smith’s medals to the borough.”