John Chesterman, from Frome in Somerset, enlisted in the Devon Regiment at the outbreak of war. After several engagements in France, his regiment was drafted to Salonica where he was very severely wounded. 'I expect, (you have heard) that I got hit pretty severe in a scrap we had with the Bulgars, a bullet caught me through my right collarbone, and drilled a nice little hole through me I can tell you. Then I had the luck to get in the way of a bursting shell, and copped it in my legs and hand, but those are all healed and I am in Malta now, waiting for my chest to get right. They tell me I shall probably be sent home, but I don’t want you to say anything about it to them at home Bill, because they would be very disappointed like myself if it didn’t come off. ' From a letter to his older brother, March 1917. He spent several months in hospital in Malta and was invalided home in the September. John made a better recovery than was expected and was drafted into the Oxford and Bucks light Infantry. He was sent to France on 31st March 1918. 'We have had decent weather up till today, now it has started raining again, so I suppose we shall soon be paddling again. Well Bill, I hope this will find things going well with you. So I will wish you good bye, trusting I shall soon get a line. I am your affectionate brother Jack.' From an undated letter to his brother - March 1918. Three weeks later, John was killed in action. He was just 23 years old. His letters to his brother, and some other correspondence, are in the archives at the Imperial War Museum. They are sweet and funny - full of gossip about family and friends and jokes about how it was a good job his brother was not in hospital with him as his good looks would have distracted the nurses. They provide a real and heart rending insight into the horrors of the First World War and the astonishing bravery with which men, like John, fought for freedom and peace.

Ruth Benton