Irish Guards clean 'neglected' grave of wartime Field Marshal

Serving soldiers have come together to clean the grave of one of their most famous forebears after reports it had been "neglected".

Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, was an officer in the Irish Guards and Governor General of Canada.

In the First World War, FM Alexander commanded a battalion on the Western Front, winning the Military Cross in 1915 and the DSO in 1916. He also played a leading role in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 during the Second World War.

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In a post on Twitter, the Irish Guards said: "After reports that the grave of Field Marshal 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis had been neglected, members of the battalion today took it upon themselves to visit and give the grave a clean."

They also shared an image of the clean gravestone of their famous wartime officer, who is buried near his former home at St Margaret Churchyard, Ridge in Hertfordshire.

Earlier this year a TikTok influencer found fame after filming herself cleaning military graves in the United States.