The graves of two Pembrokeshire brothers who perished in the Somme have received a commemorative visit exactly 100 years to the days that the young men died.

Keen military historian Keith Bowen, whose grandfather was brought up in Narberth and served in Salonika, was visiting the Somme last weekend and was aware that it co-incided with the anniversary of the deaths of David and Evan Salmon.

The brothers, aged 20 and 22, joined the Royal Field Artillery in August 1915.

Their regimental numbers were one digit apart, as were their new service numbers when they transferred to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Caught up in the heavy shelling of the Somme, David died ‘in the field’ on February 6, 1916. Evan died of his wounds the following day.

By the end of the month, two sets of letters had arrived at the family home, Lowlands, Crinow, informing the Salmon family that both brothers had died and had been buried.

“It’s an incredibly sad story,” said Mr Bowen, a retired customs investigator, who lives in Camberley, Surrey, and whose father was stationed at Pembroke Dock with 210 Sunderland Squadron.

“It was quite possible that my grandfather, Griffith William Bowen, would have known the Salmon boys, so I felt it was very appropriate to visit the graves.

“It was very poignant to see the brothers’ final resting place and to lay a poppy cross there. It was a very remote and windy location, and brought it home to you that the soldiers had to be there constantly, through thick and thin.”