The painting of John Waine in Hospital Blues has been passed down through the family, but little is known about it. For years, all that was known of John’s war was that he was wounded and had returned to the front in 1918 after it was painted, but never came home again. His brother, William, named a son for him but he was little discussed, and nobody knew what had happened to him. In 2007 I visited the battlefields as part of a school trip, but it was only after I got back that I was told my grandfather’s uncle had fought in Europe and never returned. The Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s records revealed several Waines including John, son of Joseph and Emily of 62 Sewell Street, Prescot, who went missing, presumed dead, on 17th April 1918. An emotional call to my grandfather confirmed that these were his grandparents, and that 89 years after he was lost, John had been as good as found. The following year, members of the Waine family travelled to Tyne Cot and for the first time viewed his name on the memorial. We dug deeper into the story of John’s war in preparation for a trip to commemorate the centenary of his death in April 2018. We knew he was part of the 4th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, and managed to piece together the story of his last days from the Battalion War diary at the National Archives in Kew, which gives incredible detail of the Battalion’s actions from 14th-19th April. We can only assume John was stationed with them in Méteren, a small village 14 miles south west of Ypres. Using the National Library of Scotland’s digitalised trench maps, I traced the Battalion as they marched from Bailleul to Méteren and set up defensive positions along a farm track. On 16th April, the Tank Corps vanished and the 4th Battalion rushed to fill the gap, but not before the Germans had launched an attack. The Battalion retreated and set up new positions, resisting another attack later in the morning. Only one action is described on 17th April. At 1800: the Germans attacked D company headquarters at a farm just west of Méteren and were successful in taking it, before a French counter-attack restored the line. As I write, almost 100 years to the day since John was killed, the sun is going down over our house in Flanders Fields. Three generations of the Waine family, including my grandfather - John’s nephew and namesake - have spent two days visiting Tyne Cot and retracing what we presume to be John’s final steps along the roads of Méteren, pausing poignantly at the spot he most likely fought and died. In Méteren Military Cemetery, we found the graves of several of his comrades from the 4th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. At the end of a line of men from the battalion who died on the same day, we found the grave of an unknown soldier from the regiment. Perhaps 100 years on, he has been found. Pictures show: John Waine at Tyne Cot Memorial, in front of the panel commemorating his uncle – 04/04/2018; Three generations of the Waine family outside Méteren, at the farm where John likely died – 05/04/2018; The field outside Méteren as it is today – 05/04/2018; Grave of an unknown soldier of The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, Méteren Military Cemetery – 05/04/2018; Private John Waine 91245, 4th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment in Hospital Blues – c.1917

William Waine