I think that this needs its own thread. Basically the article refers to a photo taken of a 1915 officer class and includes a fair few from the Durham Light Infantry. The owner of the photo is looking to find out more about the officers in the image. Seeing as how there may be people on the forum who had relatives who fought in WW1 and were in the DLI I thought they might have a look and if they want to assist…anyway have a read of the story and you’ll see what I mean. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7v2d4yp0go
Excellent thread mate, I'll do you the courtesy of looking at that properly when the football's finished. My great uncle was in it, as an enlisted soldier, and died near Venice.
My great grandad was in the Royal Artillery during WW1 and survived, but was wounded and gassed. Other than that I know very little about his wartime experiences, as again he never really talked about it, even to his kids. I think it was too traumatic for most who lived through it for them to want to talk about it much.
My dad has done a fair bit of research on his grandad (my great grandad) WW1 service. A coal miner called Joe Walker, married with two kids from Ryhope volunteered his services on the outbreak of the war. He joined the East Yorkshire Regiment and eventually ended up in France. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only to the VC apparently for some act of bravery. He was commissioned as an officer but resigned it the next day by all accounts. My dad has his grandads dispatches and medals framed and has them specifically mentioned in his will that they come to me.
I never knew much about the families of my grandparents so grew up in the happy illusion that none of my relatives died in WW1 or WW2 and then my son got me an ancestry DNA kit and access for my birthday in October. In WW1 dad's aunt, who lived next door, lost four sons, including three who died on the same day. Mum's uncle survived WW1 but was hospitalised with shell shock and died there in the early 1930s. Finding all this out hit me hard, for the first time ever it really made me appreciate the sense of mass grief and shock that must have pervaded the whole of Britain and France.
