THE Great War had barely a year left to run when battle-hardened Rifleman Thomas Finney paid the supreme sacrifice.

And now, 83 years after he was cut down in a hail of bullets and shells at the notorious Passchendaele ridge, the 23-year-old hero's medals are to be forwarded to the son who never knew him.

Pensioner Thomas Finney of Princess Avenue, Windlehurst, was just a baby in arms when the dad after whom he was named was killed in the front line. He had survived previous, equally-horrific campaigns.

The tragic young soldier's grandson, John Finney, of Woodlands Road, Haresfinch, has now outlined the story after an amazing coincidence.

John -- up to recent seasons well known as an amateur Rugby League player with Pilkington Recs and Haresfinch -- spotted a piece in the Star's Whalley's World column referring to his soldier grandad.

A keen military historian from Heywood, Lancs, had visited the Tyne Cot military cemetery in Belgium and had noticed reference to a Pte Finney of 150 Park Road, St Helens, killed in 1917.

He wondered if the young front-line victim had any descendants in St Helens or if anyone still remembered him.

This brought rapid response from John Finney who explained that, by an astonishing coincidence, he had only days earlier forwarded a letter to the Army's medals office at Droitwich, to claim his grandad's campaign medals which, unaccountably, had never previously been applied for.

John added that after researching his grandfather's service records, he had last year taken his elderly father, now suffering from failing eyesight, to the Belgian war cemetery to see the register of the fallen and to the battlefield where Rifleman Finney was killed.

"My dad never knew his father," explains John. "There was a faded photo of him which he vaguely remembers, but it has long since been lost. Now, those medals may help to compensate."

John's 26-year-old son, Mark, also made the trip. "So we had three generations there to honour my grandad's memory," said John. "It really was a most moving experience."

Now, John is to contact our Heywood correspondent to thank him for taking the trouble to pass on his findings, which revealed that Rifleman Finney was among the 1914-18 war victims registered as having no known graves.

IF, by chance, anyone has a photograph featuring this soldier, then his family would be delighted to see it. Please contact the Star if you can help.