Dear Willie,

 

It is almost 100 years since you were taken from us and you are still in our thoughts.  Prior to her passing in 1978, your cousin, Lilley, spoke of you very fondly; she was much younger than you and you were her hero.  Your service commenced in 1914, seeing you serve in Egypt and at Gallipoli before arriving on the Western Front in 1916.

 

The Somme.

Early on 1st July, 1916, at the very moment when German artillery fire was becoming more intense, the local British commanders ordered your regiment, 1st Border Regiment, to follow the South Wales Borderers into the attack.  Their War Diary mentions that the bridges which enabled them to cross over their front line trench had 'been ranged by the German machine gunners the day previously' and therefore 'we met with heavy losses while crossing these bridges and passing through the lanes cut in our wire.'  It was during this period that you became one of those casualties.

 

It is now 2016 and you remain alive in our memories and as a much revered member of our family.  Although your final resting place in Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery will be a place of pilgrimage for us on 1st July this year, you will live on in our hearts forever.

Vincent Meehan