It was a supreme moment for Charlotte Lambert, 17, from Queensland, whose work on Sgt Lambert uncovered the fact that he had been killed in 1917 on March 23 – the same day she celebrates her birthday.

As the final notes of the Last Post sounded at the Memorial on Saturday, Charlotte stepped proudly forward to lay a wreath near the name of the soldier who had come to play such a big part in her life.

Then Robert Worboys from Bolwarra, a direct descendant of Sgt Worboys, stepped forward to lay his wreath.

“To Arnold: Thank you for your sacrifice,” Charlotte wrote on her remembrance card.

“You live on in my heart. Love, Charlotte Lambert.”

Mr Worboys wrote: “Thank you for your sacrifice on behalf of the family.”

Mr Robert Worboys wore Sgt Arnold’s three war medals and Charlotte wore three replicas of his British War Medal and two Victory Medals.

At the ceremony, tribute was read out too from the soldier’s commanding officer in France, who said: “Sgt Worboys was the most popular sergeant I have seen.”

War diaries read out at the ceremony told how Sgt Worboys had been killed, aged 19, fighting near the village of Beaumetz.

He has no known grave, but his name is ­mentioned on a nearby memorial. 

“Fifty casualties were inflicted by us and the village of Beaumetz was reclaimed by us,” the 30th Battalion war diary reads.

Sgt Worboys was born in 1897 and he went to East Maitland High School, where he was a senior cadet officer.

He was clerk of Petty Sessions at Singleton Court and he enlisted on September 3, 1915.

“This has been a very special day for me and when my school days are over, I plan to visit the spot where Sgt Worboys died,” Charlotte said.

“I began investigating his army history because I discovered his middle name was Lambert.

“It was very exciting as the project uncovered so many new facts.

“Over time, he wasn’t just a name  – he became a person I began to know.

“And when his photograph was discovered after stories in The Maitland Mercury, it was a highlight for me.”