Manitoba family learns fate of First World War soldier after nearly 100 years

Jim Halliday holds a photo of his uncle Pte. Sidney Halliday and the ring he gave to Lissie, who later returned it to the family.

Lost but not forgotten - Jim Halliday always wondered how his uncle went missing during the First World War.

Now, nearly a century later, he knows.

Identification of remains by the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have revealed Pte. Sidney Halliday died while advancing on a small village in northern France during the Battle of Amiens in 1918.

He's one of eight soldiers found together in an unmarked grave in France in 2006.

Four of the soldiers were identified earlier this year. The remains of the last three have not yet been identified.

They may be from the 78th Battalion, or Winnipeg Grenadiers, as all five of the others identified so far were, including Pte. Halliday.

He was 22 when he died with a life waiting for him back home.

He'd met Winnipeg girl, Lissie Walmsley, while working on a farm in Minto in southwestern Manitoba and they exchanged signet rings.

His nephew Jim said that was the key to identifying his uncle.

He said a ring and a locket with Lissie Walmsley's name on it were found with Sidney's body.

His nephew now looks forward to the day his uncle gets a proper burial.

The Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces plan to host a ceremony in 2015 to give Pte. Halliday and the other soldiers an honoured and final resting place.