The life and death of a first world war soldier from Bolton has been the subject of research for a Belgian historical society based in the town where he is buried.

Nadine Dezaeytijd from the Historical Society of Ronse in Flanders wrote an article about Harry Haslam who was taken prisoner of war and died aged 19.

Mrs Dezaeytijd is now looking for relatives of Private Haslam who might have any photographs or further information about the soldier who received two war medals.

She said: “We can’t give [Private Haslam] a physical face, only a literary look, a symbol for all those who, in their own way and sometimes at the expense of their own life, have cooperated to a free world.”

Born in 1899, Harry Haslam grew up in 15 Caledonia Street with nine siblings and parents Thomas, a caretaker, and Eve, a housewife.

The five Haslam daughters worked as cotton weavers, laundresses and cleaners, while one son worked in a warehouse of a textile mill.

Private Haslam had two younger brothers, one of whom, John, also died on the war front.

The family moved to another small terraced house in 119 Chorley Road by the time Private Haslam turned 12.

Aged 16, Private Haslam initially enlisted himself voluntarily for one year of home service but eventually signed up for four years with the territorial force.

On September 10 1915 he joined the 42nd Provisional Battalion in Herne Bay, near Canterbury, before transferring to the 4th Reserve Battalion a year later.

Private Haslam was trained to be a 1st Class Signaller, responsible for transmitting information from the front troops to the battalion’s headquarters.

At the time, this was done using flags and mirrors but as war technology improved, Signallers were later trained to install telephone wires.

Signallers operated in an isolated position on the front-line trenches to transmit information on enemy targets and assist the artillery making them vulnerable to attack and capture.

Private Haslam travelled to France from Folkestone in December 1917 arriving at the largest British overseas base camp in Etaples, about 35 km south of Boulogne.

At its peak, the camp covering 12 square kilometres housed around 100,000 people and served as a training base, prison, mortuary and field hospitals with a capacity of 22,000 beds.

On December 15, Private Haslam was deployed in the field with the 1st/4th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and was treated by the 2nd/1st Wessex Field Ambulance early on but sent back the next day.

Mrs Dezaeytijd said: “Malnutrition, lack of hygiene, the very hard living conditions made trenches and encampments a breeding ground for infections and autoimmune diseases.”

On April 9, two days after the German Army started its spring offensive known as Operation Georgette, Private Haslam, was taken prisoner and transported with other British and Portuguese soldiers to Ronse.

Ronse, like Bolton, had a prosperous textile industry, but became a garrison town during the German occupation when its mills were transformed into hospitals, warehouses and prisoner of war camps.

Private Haslam was taken as a prisoner of war to a factory belonging to Mr Lagache and died in captivity six months later.

Mrs Dezaeytijd said: “We are not supposed to conjecture about the cause of their death. It is almost certain that they were wounded when they were taken prisoner of war.”

“The Spanish flu, which ravaged the area in the autumn of 1918 could also be a possible cause of death or they did not receive proper medical care. The war was ending and the Germans wanted to save their own skins in the first place.”