Norman Henry Simons, son of John and Caroline of The Minories, London, was my grandmother Rose's youngest brother. In 1911 at the age of 15 he was an 'oil and errand boy'. He served in France and Flanders as a Rifleman in the 1st Battalion and died in service on New Year's Eve 1914. Like so many young men, he must have lied about his age. Born on 13.10.1895, Norman was not 21, but only just 19 when he was killed in Ploegsteert Wood. The first time I saw this photo it struck me how young he looked.

Heaven only knows what he went through. It makes me so very sad to think of the dreadful waste of life - his and all of those killed on both sides - as well as of the pain of bereavement for those left behind.

Having suffered the loss of her brother, my poor grandmother then lost her eldest son Walter on 6 June 1944. May they all rest in peace.

I live in hope tha we can find a way of living peacefully together.

Catherine Hodges