A MUSEUM is trying to track down the family of a World War 1 soldier from East Lancashire to return his medal.

The Lancashire Infantry museum is appealing for information about any surviving family of Private Alfred Cooper, a soldier, who served with the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.

Museum curator Jane Davies said: “We often receive medals donated by families who wish to see them given the recognition, and preserved and displayed with respect.

“They are added to our medal collection, which is recognised as one of the finest in the country.

“On this occasion before donating, the current owner of Private Cooper’s 1914-1918 War Medal wishes to make one last effort to return his medal to his family if they wish to have it.

“We fully support this.

“Medals should always remain with the family until there is no longer any interest, after which we are very pleased to care for them.”

Private Copper, who’s service number was 21052, enlisted on October 30, 1914 and was sent to join his battalion on the Western Front in France on May 5 1915.

By July, Private Cooper was fighting in the trenches at Pilckem Ridge in the Ypres Salient, before he was shot on July 6 and suffered a compound fracture to his left leg.

Due to the severity of his injury, Private Cooper was evacuated back to Britain by hospital ship, before spending most of 1916 in hospital and recuperating

He was discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for war service on January 10, 1917, which suggests he would have survived the war, but lived with permanent leg injuries.

Private Copper’s Regiment recruited mainly from East Lancashire towns, however, as the war went on, soldiers were drafted in from all over the country. But it is believed Alfred Cooper most likely came from somewhere in Lancashire

Anyone with information about Private Cooper should contact the Museum on 01772 260584 or enquiries@lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk.