The first news of coalition casualties in the Iraq conflict was especially poignant for Dave Legg.

The body of his uncle lies in Basra War Cemetery along with hundreds of other fallen soldiers from past conflicts in the Persian Gulf.

Basra has been the scene of some of the most crucial strategic struggles since the latest war in the Gulf broke out last week.

However, little is widely known about previous bloody battles around the key southern seaport, Iraq's second largest city.

Indeed, Mr Legg, 72, of Ticehurst Avenue, Bexhill, knew little of his own uncle's death until he started delving into military records.

Private Harold Charles Legg, of the 2nd Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, died aged 24 on November 18, 1914. British forces captured the territory just three days later.

His nephew never knew him but cherishes several of his possessions, including his posthumous military honours.

Mr Legg said: "I obviously never met him as he died long before I was born but I have all his medals. He never saw them as they were sent to his family, then passed down through the family to me."

Details of Pte Legg's final movements are scarce as many vital records were destroyed during the Second World War. But Mr Legg was able to discover enough to confound his assumptions that his uncle would have been in Europe in the early months of the conflict.

He said: "When the First World War broke out, the 2nd Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment was about halfway through a tour of India.

"It was sent to Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, where it disembarked in Bahrain on October 23, 1914.

"War against Turkey broke out on November 2 and the battalion went into action against the Turks on November 15, when he no doubt received the wounds which killed him.

"It seems strange but when you think of a foreign field which is forever England, most people think of the many who died at the Somme and elsewhere in France.

"Harold died hundreds of miles away from home in the desert and here we are with British troops fighting there again. Some of those British forces may have literally walked past my uncle's grave since the fighting has been going on near Basra."

Among Harold's personal possessions is a Christmas card from Princess Mary. He also treasures letters which accompanied the posthumous award of the Great War Victory' medal and the 1914-1915 Star.

The war cemetery is eight miles north-west of Basra. Mr Legg said: "I have been wanting to visit since 1999 when I started researching my uncle. No one from the family has ever seen his grave.

"I would like to think that if things settle down I will be able to go and pay my respects."