Walkthrough of Lancaster Where Four #WW1 Soldiers Once Lived (2014)

The descendant of a World War One soldier tells The Bay's Amy Scarisbrick the extraordinary and heartbreaking story of the four #Butterworth #brothers from #Lancaster who all died during the First World War.

Ian Birnie is the great-grandson of William Butterworth who was the eldest of eleven brothers and sisters that lived in Bulk, Lancaster.

William Butterworth, who was an army reservist after fighting in the Boer War, was called up immediately at the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.

On 18th October 1914, William's mother Agnes Butterworth was told that her son was lost in action, presumed dead.

But the tragedy for the Butterworth family didn't end there.

William's brother Christopher was killed in action in May 1915. This was followed by the death of Hugh in August 1915.

A fourth brother, John Butterworth died in June 1917.

The tragedy of losing four sons in the First World War was too much for their father who also died. The Lancaster coroner believed his death was due to "a broken heart."

In 1924, Agnes Butterworth was invited to unveil the war memorial at the back of the Town Hall in Lancaster which displays her four son's names on it.

In 2009, The Ministry of Defence discovered the bodies of 15 British World War One soldiers that had been unearthed from where the battlefields once were in France.

After DNA testing, Ian Birnie was told in August 2014 that one of the soliders who had been found was that of his great-grandfather, William Butterworth.

A funeral service took place for William on Wednesday 22nd October, almost exactly 100 years to the day that he died.

He has been buried at the Y Farm Military Cemetery in France along with the 14 other soldiers' bodies who were discovered.

To get a sense of who the Butterworth brothers were, The Bay's Amy Scarisbrick went along with Ian Birnie and Dr Corinna Peniston-Bird from Lancaster University's History department to the streets in Bulk where the family once lived.

They began the walkthrough at the war memorial in Lancaster which displays the four names of the Butterworth brothers who were lost. Audio is property of The Bay Radio/CN Group and has been uploaded for portfolio purposes.