Gran and Grandad had seven children: first there was my father then on 2 May 1897 came Bernard Edward (known as “Bert”) after whom I was named.  Uncle Bert was fairly brainy and a bit of an organiser; he was a keen Boy Scout in the early years of the Scout Movement and wrote his patrol's magazine in very neat, legible longhand.  At some stage he joined the local Territorial Army unit, part of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surreys).  At the outbreak of war the TA soldiers were asked whether they would volunteer for service overseas and, of course, all of them volunteered.  Uncle Bert went to France, probably early in 1915 and was promoted to sergeant.  He was a specialist in bombing - not from aeroplanes but in throwing hand grenades into the German trenches. 

Later he was sent to Salonika and Egypt.  When the offensive against the Turks began his regiment went into Palestine. On 7 November 1917 the British attacked the Turks at Wadi el Sheria near Beersheba; the fighting there was part of the Battle of Gaza.  In the attack Uncle Bert was badly wounded in the stomach by machine gun fire.  He died on 9 November and was buried nearby.  After the war, his body was moved to Beersheba War Cemetery where he is in Grave P51 which, incidentally, shows his date of death as 11 November.  My gran of course was devastated by his death and would dearly have liked to visit the grave but she could never afford to go so far.           Bernard Downing (1928 – 2003)

Bernard Downing (1928 – 2003)

Jenny Keaveney