NINETY-FOUR years after his death, the contributions of a Royal Naval volunteer who served in Milford Haven will be formally commemorated.

Thanks to painstaking research by Steve John, of the West Wales War Memorial Project, Ordinary Seaman David Alfred Hodge’s name will be added to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) honour roll.

David’s naval career began in Milford Haven during the First World War, when he was posted to the town as a trained wireless operator with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

In 1917, David was posted to the harbour tanker HMS Mixol of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In March of 1918, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was invalided on May 22 of that year.

He returned to his home town of Llanelli, where his health gradually deteriorated, and died on June 3, 1919.

David’s name was never passed on to the CWGC - known then as Imperial War Grave Commission – and so for almost a hundred years his contribution to the war effort has never been formally recognised.

As a result of work by the West Wales War Memorial Project, David’s name will now be temporarily recorded in the UK Book of Remembrance at Maidenhead, Berkshire, pending formal confirmation of his final resting place in his family’s grave in Llanelli.

Steve John said: “With the Centenary of the First World War next year it is good to know that David Hodges will finally be included on the Nation’s Roll of Honour.

“The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have demonstrated that they are doing all they can to ensure that errors made after the First World War are quickly rectified once evidence is provided.

“Sadly, cuts backs made within the Army’s Directorate of Manning have resulted in an increasing backlog of cases of soldiers who died in both world wars not being properly honoured.

“While their cases sit piled on a desk within the MoD the sacrifice made by more than a hundred soldiers remains officially forgotten”.