Bill and Joe Kendrick were my uncles and were from Taghmon, Co. Wexford in Ireland. There were five boys in the family, Samuel, William (Bill), Joseph (Joe), Ernest and my father, Bertie. Sam and Ernie had diabetes and didn't go to the war, and my father, born in 1904, was too young to serve. Bill joined a horse regiment during the war. He was gassed but survived and he survived the war, too. Joe was born on 7 July 1893. During the war he served in the Army Corps of Cyclists, 36th Division attached to the 10th Corps Cyclist Battalion. Joe was at the Somme, Ypres and we think in Flanders, too. He used to visit my family every Christmas but although I was interested in the war, Joe would never talk about it. However, Joe did an interview for the Irish Times newspaper in July 1976 for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme and shared his memories: I don't know whether I was afraid. You couldn't have time then to think or to have nerves. Our nerves was gone, sure, by that time. We were on ordinary push bikes, bikes you'd see in the street, you know. Our jobs were different: sometimes to go ahead and report on the German's movements and sometimes going behind the lines or then maybe carrying ammunition. We were meant to work together with the cavalry, them in the fields and us on the road. But there wasn't much cavalry at the Somme, I think, I can't remember all that much, I was only in my 20s…But I do remember that when the fighting started you couldn't be worried about fear or anything. The place was full of machine guns, rockets, hand bombs and terrible noise. Explosions going off all the time. I know we went over the top in a three-way move, one on the right, the 36th in the middle, and one on the left. How did I survive? I was one of the lucky ones that got through, that's all. My number mustn't have been up…The weather was melting, like now it was. And they couldn't get food to us, only our emergency rations. Terrible stuff: a tin of bully beef and a few hard biscuits. Joe was severely gassed in 1917 but he survived and was in France the day the war ended. All I remember is hearing the command to cease fire…and then the cafes and the pubs opened and we got some free beer. Joe worked in Clery's in Dublin once he had recovered from the war and spent over forty years as an employee there. He died in 1978 and is buried in St Munn's graveyard, Taghmon. || Photographs: Joseph Kendrick in uniform; Joseph and and his brother Ernie; Bill Kendrick on horse;formal regiment photo; informal regiment photo;Protection and Identity cert, Joseph; Demobilisation cert, Joseph; Notice of War Medals, Joseph; Certificate of Employment during the War, Joseph; Newspaper article, Irish Times, 1 July 1976; 'Veterans of the Battlefield', Joseph Kendrick and Henry Blee in 1976; Joe's memoir, from Irish Times article. || || Joseph Kendrick || Joseph 'Joe' Kendrick, Army Cyclist Corps || Photograph || || Photograph || Joseph and Ernest Kendrick || Joseph Kendrick (standing) and his brother Ernest || || William 'Bill' Kendrick || Photograph || William Kendrick in uniform || || Regimental photograph || Photograph || Regimental formal picture || Remembrance || || Photograph || Regimental photograph, informal || || Official document || Joseph Kendrick || Protection Certificate and Certificate of Identity, Joseph Kendrick || || Official document || Joseph Kendrick || Certificate of Demobilization, Joseph Kendrick || || Official document || Notification of War Medals, Joseph Kendrick || Joseph Kendrick || || Certificate of Employment during the War || Official document || Joseph Kendrick || || Other || Irish Times article, 1 July 1976 || Remembrance || || Newspaper photograph of Joseph Kendrick, 1976 || Other || Veterans of the Battlefield, Joseph Kendrick and Henry Blee || Remembrance || || Joseph Kendrick's memoir of the Somme || Memoir of the Somme || Other || Remembrance

My grandfather John Drawbell was born on 17 July 1870 in Linlithgow, Scotland. The story went that he left home when he was very young and joined the Highland Light Infantry. He stayed in the army all his life, spending several years, I believe, in India. I know he was based at Edinburgh Castle as my mother was Christened in St Margaret's Chapel there in 1906. As a pre-war regular he was commissioned as Lieutenant into the 11th battalion part of K1. According to historian Everett Sharp, K1 was the first of six new armies named after Herbert Kitchener, then Britain's Secretary of State for War, who recognised there was a need for many men for a long war on the continent. Sharp says that because of the small size of the British Army at the outbreak of the war, all men with previous military experience were welcomed back with open arms, even at the advanced age of 44. According to Sharp, it looks as though my grandfather went into action at The Somme after training to France, later moving on to Ypres, then Passchendaele in July 1917, when in the same month he was promoted to captain. There is a note that he was mentioned in dispatches four times in 1916 and 1917. His medals were the 1914 Star, War Medal and Victory Medal. After the war he brought me up almost single-handed until I was 10 as my mother was ill with MS. Sergeant Service No 3530 Campaign medals - India Medal Clasps Awarded: Punjab Frontier 1895-1902 || Service Book John Drawhill

Typed memoirs of a British soldier || My father, John Stafford, served at the Battle of the Somme. My mother convinced him to write a memoir of his experiences as he was obviously suffering, mentally, with memories of his wounding. This memoir has been typed for safekeeping. The subject of the memoir is the Battle of the Somme, specifically an attack on the fringes of Trones Wood 6-8 August 1916 (crossing No Mans Land across what was known as Death Valley). Stafford describes the kit he carries, including 2 large cans of water for his section. He describes their attempts to dig-in while waiting a day or more in No Man's Land. Stafford has a terrible premonition of his wounding, and of his survival. However, when he is shot through both legs and crawls into a shell hole for safety he is stranded for 2 days, less than 20 yards from the Germans who he can clearly hear. He is saved finally by a reconnaisance patrol of British soliders from the unit which replaced the Liverpools after the attack. He describes their rescue attempts and their bravery, as well as the death of another soldier in the same shell hole. Finally he goes on to describe his treatment - including the chilling label pinned to his chest - Maggots! Private John Andrew Stafford, from Liverpool, served in the 5th Liverpool Regiment. His regiment number was 3083 (then 200947). His Medal Award card (online) shows he was eligible for the Victory medal and the British medal (reference H/2/102 B35 p4971), as well as the 1915 Star (reference H/2/7B p1598), and that he went overseas to France on 21 February 1915. Later he moved to Preston. He was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services during the Second World War. || || John Andrew Stafford || Memoir || Preston || 53.763201,-2.7030899999999747