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Hidden deep in caves under the killing fields of the Somme, an incredible discovery has been made.

Name after name of the British soldiers who fought – and very likely died – for their country 100 years ago.

The graffiti looks so fresh it could have been scrawled on the cave wall yesterday.

But this is an astonishing piece of World War One history.

'One of Britain's bravest ever soldiers'

And among the hundreds of names of Welshmen, Englishmen and Scotsmen is that of Sergeant Sam Meekosha, one of the bravest soldiers to ever serve his country.

The war hero – who in later life lived in the South Wales Valleys – was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace.

Then just 22 years old, Meekosha used a simple pencil to write his name eight foot high up on a wall.

For nearly a century no-one had any idea it was there.

But recently the owners of this catacomb complex started to make further investigations.

Within minutes of finding this cave, they looked up and uncovered the extraordinary part of history that time had forgotten.

2,000 monikers

There is no doubt most of the 2,000 brave souls who scrawled their monikers on the walls would have been killed or injured on the front-line of the Somme just a few miles away. It was one of the deadliest battles of the whole war, with one million men killed or wounded, the British and Canadians suffering 57, 470 casualties on the first day - July 1, 1916 - alone.

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The signatures remain intact because the temperatures in the caves are a constant 10 degrees centigrade.

Gilles Prilaux, an archaeologist with INRAP the French Institute for Archaeological Research (must keep), says: “When I shone my torch and looked up and saw the name and then saw the initials VC right next to it I knew we had found something special.

“When we did some research we found out more about Sergeant Meekosha, who moved to Caerphilly after the war."

Appeal for relatives

He added: “It is incredible to think he was here in these very caves nearly 100 years ago shortly after he actually won his Victoria Cross.

“And it is incredible to think that all these inscriptions have survived so long.

“We would welcome any visit from any of Sgt Meekosha’s surviving relatives if they would like to see what he wrote at the time.”

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To reach the cave chambers we climb 30 metres down a series of steep steps.

'Damn the Kaiser'

The caverns where most of the names are scrawled are dimly lit and we need a powerful torch to examine further. Looking at the graffiti is a very emotional experience.

One soldier wrote: “Damn the Kaiser.”

In a corner is a cluster of names from the Essex Yeomanry Regiment which even gives their home towns like Braintree and Southend.

In another Scottish soldiers from the Black Watch and the Royal Scots had left their mark.

Behind each name is a tale of bravery and heroism the world will probably never know.

'Each day we find more'

Gilles says: “We have already pulled together an extensive list of 1,800 names of soldiers but each day we find more and something new.

“By the end of October we hope to have every single name documented and on a computer database.

“We will have special teams of experts from each different country working on this.”

Matthieu Beuvin, Director of the La Cite Souterraine de Naours, an extensive cave system open to tourists in Picardy, says: “We knew there were some names here on the walls of the caves but we just didn’t realise just how many.

“It is a very special part of the history of World War One.

“The soldiers would have come here before going to fight at the front which was a few miles away."

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He added: “This area was part of the Australian sector during world war one so many of the names are Australians.

“They were so far away from home.

“But there are also many people from Britain – many Scots and some from of the inscriptions are from Birmingham, Essex, Manchester, Huddersfield, Rhyl and one from Cork in Ireland.

“It is very important that we preserve this for future generations and we need some funding to help us do this.”

Spirit of respect

In the Second World War the Germans held this particular area of the Somme and also discovered the caves.

But in a spirit of respect their soldiers did not deface the British names they found.

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Instead they added their own to those of Meekosha and all the other soldiers to leave a poignant memorial of both world wars.

Meekosha was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on March 4, 1916.

'Conspicuous bravery'

In the London Gazette, on January 22, 1916 Meekosha’s citation read: “Near the Yser Canal, France, 19 November 1915, Corporal Samuel Meekosha, 6th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment.

“For most conspicuous bravery near Yser. Corporal Samuel Meekosha was with a platoon of about 20 non-commissioned officers and men, who were holding an isolated trench.

“During a very heavy bombardment by the enemy, six of the platoon were killed and seven wounded, while all the remainder were buried.

“When the senior non-commissioned officers had been either killed or wounded, Corporal Meekosha at once took command, sent a runner for assistance, and in spite of no less than ten more big shells falling within twenty yards of him, continued to dig out the wounded and buried men in full view of the enemy and at close range from the German trenches.

“By his promptness and magnificent courage and determination he saved at least four lives.”

Served in two world wars

His life story is astonishing. And incredibly Meekosha not only survived the horrors of World War One he went on to serve in World War Two and lived through that as well.

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The son of a Polish immigrant who moved from Warsaw, his father Alex Meekosha found work as a tailor in England. He met and married anglo-Irish woman Mary Cunningham and Sam was born on September 16 1893. He made his home in Bradford where he went to school at St Joseph.

After winning the VC both his wedding and a visit to his old school featured in the Daily Mirror.

Tobacconist in Oakdale

After the war he opened a tobacconist shop and moved to Oakdale, near Caerphilly, where he later became a sales rep for John Player.

When the Second World War started he signed up again by this stage he attained the rank of Major.

But in the early 1940s he became increasingly embarrassed by other soldiers asking him: “Weren’t you the chap who won the VC in World War One?”

So he changed his name by deed poll and became Sam Ingham.

He died on December 8, 1950, aged 57, at his home in Oakdale and was cremated at the Glyntaff Crematorium, Pontypridd.

VC sold for £92,000

His will stipulated that his ashes should be scattered over his beloved Ilkey Moor in Yorkshire.

And then he was hardly heard of again until his family decided to sell his Victoria Cross at auction in May 2001 for £92,000 to a mystery buyer.

James Morton, a leading medals expert with the auctioneers, said: “Meekosha was a very modest man who was quite dismissive of the act that earned him the Victoria Cross.”

It is amazing he has been catapulted back into the limelight thanks to graffiti he scrawled almost 100 years ago.