THE 'neglected' grave of a Barrhead soldier who died fighting in WWI has finally been refurbished.

Grass and weeds which once covered the burial site of Private J. Fox of the Royal Scots Fusiliers – who died aged 23 on August 8, 1917 – have now been cleared after an ex-army crew commander flagged the issue up to The News.

William Pattison, 60, expressed his joy when he learned the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had acted on his request to show the patch of land at St John's Church some attention and carried out the necessary maintenance work.

Reacting to the news, William, who is also from Barrhead, said: "I'm delighted they've got their finger out and done something.

"If they'd bothered, I wouldn't have had to come to the newspaper. I spoke to them twice and they had two opportunities to do something.

"I actually took a picture of the article and sent it to them and I got a fairly nice email back from the person who deals with enquiries to say they had passed it on.

"None of the graves there deserve not to be looked after.

"I'm delighted they've done something about it."

The former Royal Artillery crew commander stumbled upon the grave as he walked his dog close to the Barrhead church's cemetery back in June.

Such was the thickness of the weeds, William struggled to make out the engravings on the gravestone when he took a closer look and, as a result, was unsure of the soldier's personal information.

As he served in the army for almost 25 years himself, William was eager to see the soldier's grave treated with respect and regularly asked the CWGC to do something about the site when he made the discovery.

Maintenance staff from the CWGC finally carried out the refurbishments last Friday, September 9 following an article published in The News two days previously.

Born in Barrhead, Private J. Fox, of the 6th/7th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers was the son of Mary Fox who lived at 48 Canal Street, Paisley.

Samantha Daynes, CWGC media manager, said: "We would like to thank Mr. Pattison for bringing this matter to our attention. We are happy to report that the maintenance of Private Fox’s grave has been carried out.

"Getting the community involved, as Mr Pattison has done, really does helps us. Not only to find out the stories behind the names on the headstones, but also to alert us to any maintenance issues that we need to rectify.

"Our teams in Scotland look after more than 20,000 war graves and memorials, and occasionally some maintenance issues may not be attended to as quickly as we would like."

She added: "The CWGC Living Memory Project remembers the forgotten front: the 300,000 war graves and memorials in the UK from both world wars. We’d really like the people of Barrhead to join in and reconnect with their war heritage."

"Some islands we visit aren’t even inhabited any more, but the graves of those who fell are still maintained and cared for by our dedicated team.

"Anyone interested in the project can email us on livingmemory@cwgc.org or visit www.cwgclivingmemory.org for more information."

Private J.Fox's casualty details can be viewed online by visiting www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/664218/FOX,%20J