Front || Postcard, issued by the Royal Engineers and headed from one of the Royal Engineers serving his King and country with an image of a soldier and a printed greeting.

On the 'Children of the Great War' collecting day at Leyton orient Supporters club, 16th February 2014, Christopher Bates contributed what he knew of great-grandfather Henry Jackson, a North London man who volunteered aged 34 and was killed. || || Interview || Christopher Bates || Henry Jackson

At the start of the war, my father Charles Beeks was a regular soldier in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) and was sent to the continent with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). He was attached to Major General Groves and travelled with him a lot. Charles Beeks later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and received his pilots wings, though the date of this is uncertain. It is believed that he transferred in 1916 and was undergoing training by 1917. He is believed to have undergone flight training in Egypt (flying an aircraft which I believe was a B2CE) and was confirmed by the Bishop of Jerusalem. He was not wounded in the war but did damage his Achilles tendon pushing lorries through the sand in Cairo. He also caught malaria there and was put in hospital; by the end, he weighed just 6 st. 11 lb. He was decorated and received the Distinguished Flying Medal, but I don't know why. I vaguely recollect that this may be related to putting a smokescreen over enemy trenches but this is uncertain. After the war, he served as the standard bearer for the Oxford branch of the Old Contemptibles Association (of BEF veterans). His standard is now held in the church of St Michael at the Northgate in Oxford. || Charles Beek's Distinguished Flying Medal certificate; certificates relating to his time in the Middle East (confirmation, advanced flying exams certificate).