Remembering C.S.M. Thomas Albert Narraway, M.M.
Being contacted by the relative of a soldier I’ve written about is one of the most gratifying aspects of maintaining my blog. This is exactly what happened as a result of […]
Two more 7th Battalion Royal Scots identified
Rosemary Camp contacted me earlier this month when she recognized the name of her great-uncle Charles McDonald in a newspaper clipping included in my post about Pte Arthur B. Colville. […]
Fairfield in the First World War
Fairfield in the First World War is my attempt to shine a light on the contribution made by the residents of my neighbourhood 100 years ago. It’s a micro history […]
99 Years ago today: the Second Battle of Ypres
Today I commemorate my great-grandfather Lance-Corporal Herbert Clifford, 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment), who in the early evening of April 22, 1915 was shot and captured while on patrol near the G.H.Q. line. Herbert would spend the remainder of the war enduring the hardships of a First World War POW camp. The […]
A Field Message Book belonging to Capt. Cyril Norman, MC
Lieutenant Cyril Norman‘s Field Message Book offers a fascinating glimpse into the working life of an officer on the Western Front. His entries begin in August 1916 and end in February 1917 […]
Remembering Lt. George Geoffrey May
A tribute to my grandfather’s cousin, Lt. George Geoffrey May, who died at Vimy on the morning of April 9, 1917.
“A Brush Cut” – a soldier’s poem to Nurse Styles
In August 1916 Nurse Ethel Styles opened to the first page of her autograph book and wrote: Memories are ever dear, Memories of “The Boys” Nurse Styles was serving at the Bethnal Green […]
Doing Our Bit 