I never met Private Griffiths Walters in his lifetime. He died on the first day of the Somme and was buried in Y ravine cemetery.

I was 14 years old when my school took a group of us on a school trip to the Somme battlefields. That's when I met Private Walters. Just a name on a white cross. Private G Walters. I don't know why he stood out for me. One name amongst many. But I stood at his grave and whispered to him that I'd never forget him. And I never have.

For 20 years I carried his name in my head. 20 years and then I decided I needed more. His first name at least. So, I tracked down what information I could. His full name, home town, what had happened that day in Y ravine. I felt like a crazed stalker at times. Somewhere in that process, I forgot that it all ended in such tragedy. There was genuine grief on remembering. On researching this soldiers life, it became the more unbearable that his life had been forfeited. Wasted. How I wish it could be taken back.

Private Walters will always be remembered by me. Not just a fallen hero. My hero.

kelly jenkins