My great-uncle John was hit by a stray shell while travelling home through France on leave towards the end of the war. His friend William Bond was the messenger who delivered the news to John's parents and when he did so he met John's sister Jessie (my grandmother) - the story goes that he took her out for a drink in order to give John's parents space to grieve. John was engaged to a girl named Kate who lived in the same buildings and they were due to be married on his return from war in 1918. Instead, it was his friend William who eventually married John's sister, and hence he became my grandfather. John's death was tragic but the story ultimately had a happy ending. He fought valiently along with my grandfather - who died younger than he should have due to being gassed in the war - for our freedom and we must never let their sacrifices and hardships be forgotten.

Karen Packham