RELATIVES of a Worcestershire soldier who died on a First World War battlefield have visited the county where he grew up.

Douglas Caswell had emigrated from Powick to Australia in 1912.

The 22-year-old was a long way from his former home near Worcester when Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914.

Answering the call of duty, he joined hundreds of thousands of men from across the British Empire who travelled across the world so they could fight for the mother country.

Last week, his great-niece Debbie Carrigan and her daughter Meg visited Worcestershire, meeting other members of the surviving Caswell clan and stopping in Worcester, where Pte Caswell was once an apprentice butcher.

The remains of the young soldier are thought to be among those of 250 soldiers killed in the Battle of Fromelles, during the Somme campaign in 1916, and afterwards buried by the Germans in a mass grave.

Their visit coincides with the end of an archaeological dig in northern France aiming to discover the exact identities of the dead men.

Painstaking DNA tests are being carried out in an attempt to match living relatives, including Mrs Carrigan and her Australian cousin Bronwyn Owens.

For Mrs Carrigan, the visit to Powick, where the young Pte Caswell would have grown up, was an emotional experience.

“It is really special to be here,”

said the 52-year-old. “Just seeing the place where he lived makes it all very real and it is an incredibly emotional experience.”

While in the village on Friday, October 2, she visited The Sandpits area where young Douglas grew up with his father Edwin, a coal agent, mother Sophie, and siblings Margaret, Ebborn and Nellie.

The two met Bet Bartlett, a member of the Caswell family, and her husband John.

While in Powick, some time was spent poring over old family photos.

Later, they had a tour of the Guildhall, Worcester, the city where Pte Caswell served as an apprentice to Till’s butchers in The Shambles before emigrating.

In February, next year, all the soldiers’ remains will be buried in marked graves in a cemetery at Pheasants Wood cemetery with the results of the DNA tests not expected until later.

On the 94th anniversary of the battle of Fromelles – on Monday, July 19, 2010 – Mrs Owens will represent the family at a special commemoration by which time it is hoped Pte Caswell will have been positively identified.