Heather Campbell, a 62-year-old Newcastle woman, has travelled halfway across the world to Belgium to honour her great uncle, Eustace Clavil Peverell, who died in World War I. She never met him but hopes he knows he was never forgotten.
Peverell was 24 when he died from shrapnel wounds to the chest in Ypres, Belgium, on December 12, 1917. He served as a driver with the 13th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, transporting ammunition and supplies.
Ms Campbell joined the Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tour to visit her great uncle's grave at Westhof Farm Cemetery. She said it was time for her pilgrimage for her great uncle and her family.
She only discovered her relative's wartime death in high school, as the war was rarely discussed in her family. In the past two years, she began researching his story with help from an uncle.
After Peverell's death, his mother paid three shillings to have photos of his gravestone and personal effects sent to Australia on the SS Barunga, but the ship was sunk, losing the items. Ms Campbell described this as horrific.
Ms Campbell decided this Anzac Day was the right time to visit the grave, as only two other family members have done so since 1917. She said Anzac Day is a celebration of history and honouring generations past and present.
