French school honours SA WWI soldier

A South Australian World War I soldier will be immortalised in France with a school in the Somme to be named in his honour.

The school at Blangy-Tronville, a town of just 550 people, will be re-named the Arthur Clifford Stribling School.

Premier Jay Weatherill visited the school on Monday to unveil a plaque with students and lay a wreath at Private Stribling's grave.

"This is a touching tribute for Private Stribling and the brave South Australians who fought and died alongside him on the Western Front," the premier said.

"He wasn't chosen because he is a decorated war hero, he was chosen because he personifies the typical Aussie digger."

Private Stribling, a farmer, was born in Tarlee, north of Adelaide, in 1890 and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1916.

He fought on the Western Front in the 50th Battalion, a unit predominantly drawn from South Australia.

He was 28 when he died of wounds at Villers-Bretonneux on April 25, 1918 and was buried at Blangy-Tronville along with 15 other soldiers.