A family will bid a poignant farewell to a soldier in Ilkley next week - nearly 80 years after his tragic death.

Ivy Castro was only six years old when her father, Sergeant Thomas Hayes, was crushed to death by his horse while moving timber at the Coronation Hospital yard in 1925.

A staff instructor for the 276th (Ilkley) Howitzer Battery, Sgt Hayes' coffin was draped in the Union Jack as large crowds turned out for his military funeral service at St Margaret's Church.

But Ivy, as was the convention of the time for children, was not allowed to join the mourners, and, unbeknown to her, her father has lain in an unmarked grave ever since.

All of that is about to change, however, when Mrs Castro, now 83, attends a special ceremony at a brand new headstone in Ilkley Cemetery on Tuesday.

Her husband, Edward, a Normandy landings veteran, son John, and daughter-in-law, Pamela Castro, will travel up with her from Suffolk for the service.

Mrs Castro junior explained: "Ivy has been quite keen on going back to Ilkley for a while now because she left when she was only seven years old, without being allowed to go to her father's funeral or his grave.

"She had an old cutting from the Ilkley Gazette covering the service in September, 1925, so we used that as a starting point late last year. Then we began a little bit of detective work by coming to Ilkley itself, to try to find the Drill Hall where the family had all lived, as well as the grave.

"We were terribly disappointed when we couldn't find it, and in the end my husband had to use a mobile phone and be guided by a cemetery official to get us to the right plot, because it was unmarked.

"That really surprised us because Sgt Hayes had had such a huge, military funeral, but we think it was because his widow was just too distraught to face arranging anything.

"Ivy was of course upset, but we were advised to contact the Ministry of Defence to ask about receiving a headstone - and to our pleasant surprise everything was sorted out."

A standard military monument in white stone, the gravestone bears the coat-of-arms of the Royal Artillery, Sgt Hayes' staff number and a short tribute.

The family have been spared any costs due to the generosity of everyone they have met, from the stonemasons through the MoD to the cemetery

officials, who all gave their services free of charge.

Father Richard Hoyal, of St Margaret's Church, has been asked to say a few words at the graveside for the family.

He said: "The original service was conducted at St Margaret's all those years ago, with full military honours, but for some reason it was never followed-up with a grave.

"I got a call from the family as they were investigating the situation about the grave, and they have asked me to carry out a little service to dedicate the stone.

"I'm very happy to do it and I think it may help the family, and the daughter in particular, come to terms with a tragic event which happened a long time ago but has affected their whole lives.

"This is an opportunity for people to set things to right, in a gentle way. To dedicate the stone will be a way of asking God's blessing for the whole family, including Sgt Hayes, who has always been remembered and loved. It completes things and allows anxieties to be laid to rest.

"People in the town have been very helpful. I think because they've been moved by this story, that for such a long time the daughter hasn't been helped by things which weren't followed through at the time."

Mrs Castro junior, ahead of the family travelling up for the blessing, passed on this message of gratitude to the people of Ilkley.

She said: "The fact no-one took a penny for the headstone just sums up the attitude of everyone we met in Ilkley, from the cemetery staff to the Gazette itself, which helped us find the Drill Hall, and to Father Hoyal.

"So we really wanted to say through your pages a big 'thank-you' for all the help we've received because it means a lot."

Looking ahead to next week's service, she added: "Back in those days they didn't think it was appropriate for children to go to family funerals, and Ivy still remembers watching when the gun carriages moved away from the Drill Hall to head for the service, and being told not to look.

"So she really wanted to go back and see the grave, and this will be a way of resolving something

unfinished."