A documentary revealing the fate of a soldier who went missing after the D-Day landings in France "brings his memory alive again", said his family.
Pte Joe Hewitt, of Salford, was reported missing on 28 June 1944 but his family were only told he had died a year later at the end of World War Two.
Historian Clement Horvath was inspired to tell Mr Hewitt's story by a "moving" wartime letter his uncle wrote.
The first Allied troops landed on the shores of northern France to liberate it from Nazi Germany on 6 June 1944.
The letter had been written by Mr Hewitt's uncle, James, who had been serving in North Africa.
The letter to Mr Hewitt's mother and grandmother in Salford said he was "certain Joe was safe" and was a prisoner and not to think the worst,
Mr Horvath's intrigue soon turned to sadness, he said, after he discovered Mr Hewitt died in Operation Epsom two days after it started on 26 June 1944.
"Joe had, in fact, been killed in action aged only 24 years old," Mr Horvath said. "Those letters full of hope became painful to read. Poor James had no idea he was dead."
Mr Lee said the wartime letter was "very sad" as the family thought Mr Hewitt was alive and a prisoner of war. For a year they carried on believing this... to the summer of 1945.
He added that it celebrated the sacrifice of not just his relative but "all the other unknown Joes who gave their lives" in World War Two.
"He is not just one of the soldiers that died during D-Day or in the days after D-Day," he added.
"He is a soldier from Salford who did his best and unfortunately died trying to free Caen in France.
"It brings him to life for us all. He is a real person; not just a name on a memorial or a number in an Army pay book."