THE family of a First World War soldier who died in the conflict are preparing to remember him at a special ceremony in Oxford.

Corporal Albert Margetts was serving in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry when he was killed during the capture of Pond Farm, near St Julien in Belgium, in August 1917.

There is no known grave, but Corporal Margetts is commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen in Belgium. Born on April 15, 1890, in Oxford, Albert Margetts lived in Bridport Street and St Ebbe’s Street in Oxford.

He was one of 45 men who worked at Oxford University Press in Walton Street who died in the conflict.

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The corporal’s name is to be read out at a Turning the Pages ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, on March 7, at 11am.

And his descendants will attend, including Joy Margetts, 79, from Kennington. Albert Margetts was her husband’s uncle.

Mrs Margetts’ husband Roy died aged 72 from cancer in 2006.

Mother-of-two Mrs Margetts said: “My husband and I used to talk about going to see Tyne Cot but unfortunately that did not happen before he died.

“The family visited Christ Church in October to find out more about Turning the Pages and see Albert’s name. I think the ceremony will be a very fitting way to remember the fallen.”

Mrs Margetts’ son Philip, 58, who lives in Rowley Regis in the West Midlands, will also attend to remember his great-uncle.

He said: “The ceremony will be a fitting occasion and I will be attending with my nine-year-old son Albert, who was named in memory of Albert Margetts.”

The ceremonies are held once every two months to remember those who gave their lives in the two world wars. The tradition was started by Colonel Richard Hill, a former officer with the Royal Green Jackets and, after he died, he passed the responsibility to Colonel Mike Vince MBE.