AN appeal has been issued by Bury's Fusilier Museum to trace the descendants of a First World War soldier who died at the Battle of the Somme - after curators secured a poignant piece of his legacy.

Museum bosses have successfully bid at auction for the Lee-Enfield rifle which belonged to Fusilier Maurice Rosenthal.

And now officials at the Moss Street venue are on the hunt for any surviving relatives of Maurice, who was born and lived in nearby Cheetham.

Private Rosenthal joined up and served with C Company, 15th Battalion, it is known.

But the trooper, aged just 26, was killed in action on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

It is understood that his rifle, a Lee-Enfield 303 calibre, lay buried in the ground for nearly a century before it was unearthed by gas workers undertaking excavations near Thievpal, in northern France.

Engineers were able to pinpoint their discovery as Private Rosenthal's name tag was nearby. The rifle still had live ammunition loaded.

Investigations by museum officials have discovered that Private Rosenthal was the son of Simon and Betsy Rosenthal and he was born into a Jewish family at 41 Exchange Street, Cheetham, Manchester in 1888.

He is known to have had five sisters - Yetta, Leah, Kate, Mathilda and Jane, and one brother Jacob, and he was a member of the Jewish Lads Brigade and Manchester Synagogue.

He enlisted into the Lancashire Fusiliers on December 29, 1915, and is believed to be buried at the Connaught Cemetery, Thiepval.

Col Brian Gorski MBE, chairman of The Fusilier Museum, said: “We are thrilled to have been able to secure this unique, rifle and bring it back home to the museum where it belongs.

"We hope to tell Maurice’s story in a special exhibition when we re-open later next year but it would be great if we could locate some of Maurice’s family members so we can get them involved in the project too.

"A huge thank-you to the Lancashire Fusilier Association also for their extensive research and support in enabling us to secure such a fabulous item for our collection."

Private Rosenthal, with many others, features in a National Lottery backed project, British Jews in the First World War. The website is dedicated to outlining the contributions of the Jewish population to the Great War effort.

Currently the museum is closed due to the pandemic but hopes to open its doors again next year.

Museum officials have set up a virtual tour of the extensive facility, which features a permanent display to the famous 'Six VCs before breakfast, awarded to Major Cuthbert Bromley, Corporal John Grimshaw, Lance Corporal William Keneally, Sergeant Alfred Richards, Sergeant Frank Stubbs and Captain Richard Willis, for their heroics at Gallipoli.

Anyone with any information about Private Rosenthal should contact Sarah Stevenson, Collections Manager on the following email address sarah.stevenson@fusiliermuseum.com