My Mum's knowledge of her uncle was fragmentary but she recalled that he was her mother's favourite brother - because the one who teased her least! His service records are incomplete and the York & Lancs diaries make no particular mention of him but what does exist is a record of a man - a boy in fact - who joined up by lying about his age and was discharged, but who then found his way back into the Army. Quite spookily I saw a documentary about the early days of war photography, and one of the featured photographers was an officer in my Great Uncle's regiment. There was footage of the Regiment leaving Britain to head for France and somewhere in that crowd, on the screen right in front of me, was probably my Great Uncle. I only uncovered the fact of his existence a few years ago, and immediately set out to visit his grave. Standing in front of it was a very moving experience. He died on the 9th June 1916.

Rob Lloyd