Four Canadian solders whose remains were found nearly a century after their deaths were laid to rest Thursday in France.

All four were part of the military during the First World War and were among the more than 10,000 people killed during the Battle of Hill 70 – a Canadian-led offensive against German troops near Lens, France over 10 days in August 1917.

The remains were found between 2010 and 2016 and identified publicly in May as belonging to Pte. William Del Donegan, Pte. Henry Priddle, Pte. John (Jack) Henry Thomas and Sgt. Archibald Wilson.

Thomas was a member of the New Brunswick-based 26th Canadian Infantry Battalionwho died at the age of 28, while the other three men all enlisted in Winnipeg as members of the 16th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Del Donegan, Priddle and Wilson were 20, 33 and 25 respectively.

Thursday’s funeral was held at the Loos British Cemetery near Loos-en-Gohelle, France, which is operated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) – an organization tasked with caring for the graves of nearly 1.7 million soldiers who died in the First World War and Second World War.

Relatives of all four soldiers were in attendance. Through the CWGC, they had been able to choose phrases and religious symbols to be inscribed on the soldiers’ headstones.

Also in the crowd were Canadian military and government representatives, as well as locals from Loos-en-Gohelle.

“It was just an amazing thing to look at,” Maj.-Gen. Nicolas Eldaoud, the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Armed Forces to travel to France for the funeral, told CTV News Channel. “A Canadian would wonder ‘After 100 years, does it really make a difference?’ Let me tell you: It does.”

Being able to give families that sort of closure is “an extremely rewarding experience,” Dominique Boulais of the CWGC told CTV’s Your Morning.

“So many relatives, when the remains are not found, pretty much wonder what happened to them,” he said.

The remains of more than 1,300 Canadians killed during the Battle of Hill 70 have never been found.