It took 95 years and work from historians in two countries, but Cpl. Alfred Gyde Heaven finally has a proper headstone marking the spot where he’s buried.

The First World War soldier’s gravesite was rededicated with the new military headstone at a service of remembrance Saturday at Shrewsbury General Cemetery in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, U.K.

Heaven, who was born in Oakville to Claude and Ellen Heaven, died in April 1917 at a hospital in Shrewsbury from injuries he sustained fighting in France at Vimy Ridge.

Floyd Low, a Gatineau-based military history buff, took special interest in Heaven’s story and the movements of his 102nd Canadian Infantry Battalion.

“Every soldier is entitled to a monument like that. The minute that we saw that his monument had fallen apart, we said it’s our duty that we have to get him fixed up,” Low said.

Blue-eyed Heaven was only a boy when he signed up to fight in the war.

His family moved to Manitoba, then Saskatchewan and finally to Grand Forks, B.C., where he enlisted on Jan. 26, 1916.

His enlistment papers say he was born April 1, 1897, which would have made him 18.

But like many boys eager to join the war effort, Heaven reportedly lied about his age and was only 16 when he signed up to fight.

He left for training that summer and wouldn’t return home.

In Nov. 1916, Heaven won the Military Medal for “gallant conduct.” He had to take control after the leaders of his battalion were wounded or killed, Low said.

A record of the award praises Heaven for taking “hold of the situation” and working “with untiring energy” despite being “only a boy.”

“He showed remarkable ability and powers of command.”

He was 18 when he died in a Shrewsbury hospital on April 21, 1917.

Heaven died before the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter and began officially identifying the resting places of fallen soldiers and building memorials, Low said.

“As near as we can figure out, his family put up a gravesite for him.”

That gravestone deteriorated in recent years, making it difficult to read the engravings.

In 2007, Shrewsbury war historian Philip Morris found Heaven’s grave by accident when he was looking around the cemetery for another grave.

“After brushing away the weeds and other debris, I then realized it was a war grave and a very important one,” Morris wrote in an email.

“After my research on the soldier, I realized things needed to be put in place to have his grave restored or possibly a new military headstone to replace the old, which was in very bad condition.”

Two years ago, Low and Morris started the process of securing a new stone for the fallen teen soldier.

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They contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which agreed to give him a new military headstone.

Morris laid a wreath on behalf of the city of Grand Forks at the new headstone during Saturday’s remembrance. About 50 people, including representatives from the British and Canadian militaries, were there.

“We should as a nation here or overseas remember our war dead … most importantly, their graves should be always tended and cared for,” Morris said.