For all of their lifetimes my grandfather and father never spoke of this great tragedy but I found papers with the details amongst my father's things when he died and went to visit the Somme. to see the place - L'Eaucourt Abbé - where Uncle Fred was last seen alive and to find his name on the Thiepval Memorial. Uncle Fred has no known grave, so he might be the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey along with many many others. It gave that grave a new significance in my life.

Martin Flatman