RELICS from a devastating First World War campaign will be handed over in a poignant ceremony on Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of Allied and German troops died in battle near the Belgian city of Ypres. Its 11th century cathedral was also reduced to rubble by German artillery shelling.
From out of the ruins a British soldier, Sgt Major E. Hawker who was stationed in Warlingham, recovered a handful of items in the debris – three collection bags and two wooden communion plates.
When he got back to Britain he gave them to All Saints Church in the Warlingham, where they lay hidden away for almost a century. At the weekend they will be returned to Belgium.
Former churchwarden Marion Havard came across the items stashed away in the church office in 2000.
Now the church council has decided that the centenary of the outbreak of the war is the appropriate time to restore them to Ypres.
She said: "I was absolutely amazed to find these items.
"They had a note attached to them saying they were recovered in 1916. They have no monetary value but huge sentimental value, so it will be poignant to return them this year."
Ypres Cathedral spokesman Alexander Declercq said: "We will be very pleased to welcome back the relics.
"In World War One unfortunately the cathedral was completely destroyed.
"A lot of the religious and art objects were also destroyed or disappeared.
"Not only is this the story of the church, it also tells a personal story of a soldier who was there and kept the relics safe for so many years."
The historic consignment will be taken back to Belgium by All Saints Church members Hugh and Eira Bown amid their four-day tour of First World War battlefields. They will formally present them to cathedral authorities on Saturday.
Mrs Bown said: "It's an honour to be able to present these items back to where they belong. It's astonishing that they were found hidden away like that."
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