George lied about his age, as did many men of his time, to go and fight for king and country aged 17. He joined the Royal Flying Corps, working as a spotter, and was shot down over the trenches of the Somme by a German officer with a Luger pistol in 1917, aged 20.

The German officer wrote a letter of condolence to my great grandfather, as back then there was still some code of chivalry in war.

Rich Gordon