A WALLET that was thrown to a friend by a soldier after going over the top during World War One has been reunited with relations in St Helens after nearly 100 years.

After remaining in the hands of a Lancashire family for almost a century, the wallet - which contained postcards and photographs - has been handed back to the son of one of the soldier's sisters.

During the Battle of the Somme, Charles Frodsham and friend Frank Rollins were together in the trenches.

When the order came to go over the top, Charles was hit and, fearing his wounds were fatal, he asked Frank to return his wallet to his family.

After decades attempting to track down the family on behalf of Frank, who never completed the task, Emma Brown, from Thornton-Cleveleys, was delighted to hand it back to Ken Jones, Charles' nephew.

Ken, who lives in St Helens, met with Emma, her mother and her uncle at St Helens war memorial.

Over lunch, they handed Ken the wallet and discussed the events that had brought them together.

Ken was delighted to see photos of his mother as a child - and other relatives - and has been inspired to carry out more family research.

Ken said: "There's 100 years of history there. It's amazing to see my grandad writing to son on his birthday - handwriting from so long ago."

Emma said: "We all hit it off and spent hours chatting away when we met.

"We are glad to see it returned to the family, but of course a little bit upset too, because it has been with our family for so long. It's a bit of our own history.

"Ken was quite emotional when he saw it - especially the picture of his mum.

"It's taken a long time but Frank's mission to get it back to the family is now complete."

Charles Frodsham did not die of his injuries, but recovered and went on to marry his sweetheart Lily at Holy Trinity Church Parr Mount in 1920. The couple later relocated to the north east and it is believed they had one child, but have no surviving descendants.