Royal Engineers || || Postcard from George Scott to his mother || Postcard with very brief message (to Mother from her loving son George). Not known whether Thomas Edward Scott was also known as George, or whether this is another brother? || Back || Postcard || || Photograph || Probably a wedding photograph || Scott Family group || || Photograph || Scott Family group || || Front || Postcard of Last Supper || Front of postcard of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. Bought in Milan? || || Reads From George at Italy March 14th 1919; Oh Lord thy all victorious love and has references to Bible passages. From George Scott. || Postcard || Back || Back of postcard of Last Supper

My uncle Thomas Byrne, the son of John Byrne and Sarah Lacy of John Street, Wexford, Ireland, was born on 5 November 1894. When he was sixteen he was a moulder at a local foundry. After a lockout of the workers at the foundry, he enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, service number 1900. He was sent to Fermoy, Co. Cork until September 1915. From there he moved to Aldershot in Hampshire and eventually he was deployed to France. On 23 July 1917, he moved up to the front and on to Brandhoek in Belgium on 30 July 1917. From there he moved into an area known as ‘Square Farm’. He was killed in action on 5 August 1917. He has no known grave but his name is commemorated in the Menin Gate in Ypres Ieper, Belgium. We have his Death Plaque still in its box, and two of his medals, the 1914-15 Star and the British War Medal. || Private Thomas Byrne; 1914-15 Star, obverse and reverse; British War Medal, obverse and reverse; Death Plaque with cover/box; Death Plaque; Sarah Lacy (1866-1902), Tom's mother; Margaret Byrne, Tom's sister and the contributor's (Thomas Cleary) mother. || || Pte Thomas Byrne, John Street, Wexford || Photograph || || Tom Byrne's 1914-1915 Star Medal || Medal || || Back of Tom Byrne's 1914-1915 Star Medal || Medal || || Medal || Tom Byrne's British War Medal || || Back of Tom Byrne's British War Medal || Medal || Tom Byrne's British War Medal, reverse || || Tom Byrne's Death Plaque with cover/box || Medal || || Thomas Byrne's Death Plaque || Medal || || Photograph || Sarah Lacy (1866-1902) Tom's mother || || Photograph || Margaret Byrne, Tom's sister || Margaret Byrne, Tom's sister and contributor's (Thomas Cleary) mother

Ernie was born on 6th February 1898 at Langford in the County of Berkshire, the ninth child and third son of Harry and Polly (Hacker) Fitchett. His father was a farm labourer who moved around Berkshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire with his work, and Ernie's ten siblings were born around these counties. At the English 1911 census Ernie is shown as a 13 year old farm labourer, living at Coleshill in Berkshire with his parents and four of his siblings. One of his older sisters moved away to Brecon in South Wales and Ernie must have been on holiday with her and her family in 1914 as he enlisted in the South Wales Borderers in August or September 1914 at Brecon. No enlistment papers have survived but the SWB Museum records confirm this. Ernie was, of course, under age at this time. His Medal Index Card indicates that he was sent to France on 26th January 1915, but this is actually when he was sent back to the front, as we have a letter from him to his sister, Millicent, or Cissie as she was known, from hospital in Edinburgh where he was recovering from wounds, Cissie received this letter on 7th December 1914. He then sent a postcard to Cissie on 12th February 1915 to say that he was back at the front but not yet at the 'firing line' as he described it. We have several other letters, some just asking for 'fags' (cigarettes) but others describing what he and his mates had gone through. He was taken into the 2nd Stationary Hospital on 24th November 1915 with a bad gun shot wound to his left thigh and we have several letters to his sister from the Army Nursing Sister and the Chaplain, as Ernie develops gangrene, has his leg amputated but to no avail and he dies on 1st December. He was buried at Abbeyville Cemetery. The Medal Index Card shows Ernie's entitlement to the 1914/15 Star, the British and the Victory Medals, but his December 1914 letter indicates that he may have been entitled to the 1914 Star. His Medals are believed to have been split among the family, but we do have his 'Death Penny' and Cap Badge. He was initially commemorated on the War Memorial at Coleshill, but as the family had moved away when this was raised, Ernie is noted as having served with the Royal Field Artillery, but subsequent to our research, he is now properly commemorated there, showing that he gave his life in the South Wales Borderers Regiment. || Story and photographs || || Photograph || 11626 Pte Ernie E Fitchett || Photo of Private Ernie Fitchett in uniform || 11626 Pte Ernie Fitchett || || Photo of Ernie's original grave in Abbeyville || Original grave of Pte E E Fitchett at Abbeyville || Abbeyville Cemetery, France & Flanders || Photograph || Pte Ernie Fitchett, original grave and cross || || Ernie Fitchett with mates from the SWB || Photograph || Somewhere in France and Flanders || Ernie Fitchett and his mates behind the lines || Photo of Ernie Fitchett behind the lines with his mates (Ernie seated right, looking years younger that his mates) || || Young soldier || Photograph || Photo - Ernie Fitchett