I have several photos from WWI that I can email, plus the enhanced photo which I think it really great.
My Grandfather died when I was only 4 so I have no memories of him. From stories about him from my mother, uncles and aunt, I was left with an not so positive impression of him. I'm now 44 and have done some research about him, created a family tree and discovered some interesting facts about him. From small photographs that are now almost 100 years old I found out what regiment he was in. From there I discovered where he fought, read stories of the battles, seen hand-drawn maps of the trench systems he lived in for over 3 years. I've had one small photo of him and his section in a trench digitally enhanced and printed a copy for all his other grand-children, together with a write-up about him and his family tree. I hope this small Christmas gift to the rest of my family will help preserve his memory for future generations. This is the write up about him... ANDREW NEILL Born 21st Jan 1897 – Preston St, Barrowfield, Glasgow Died 23rd Jul 1971 - London Andy was the second youngest of 5 children – Robert, Mary, William, Andrew and Alexander.  All 5 children grew to become adults, which was unusual in those days as many died at birth or in infancy. The 1911 Census shows that 14 year old Andrew and all his family (except 12 year old Alexander who was still at school) worked in linen and cotton factories.  Andy was a Cotton Spooler - after the raw cotton is spun into yarn or thread, the cotton spooler puts the strands onto spools or cones using a spooling machine. On 20th Sep 1915, aged 18, he volunteered to go to war – only 14 months after the start of World War I.  This is an interesting indicator of the type of person he was as he didn’t wait until he was called up, which every man his age was in the following years. He joined the 8th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers and by November 1915 he was in the trenches in Salonika, Greece, where this photograph was taken - the original photo is only 2 x 3 inches.  Of the 18 soldiers in this photo, Andy is one of the youngest.  In all his Army photos he’s always well turned out and clean shaven, and in this photo he rests his rifle on his boot – all good soldiering skills.  This may not seem important now-a-days but a massive number of soldiers died of illness and disease, yet Andy survived battles and sickness. Andy served his entire time, 3 years, in the trenches of Salonika until the war ended on 11th November 1918.  He was awarded 3 medals but didn’t achieve any rank. On 13th Apr 1920, aged 23, he married Elizabeth Goldie in Glasgow.  They went on to have 2 children.  At this time his address was 15 Silvergrove Street, Glasgow.  After they separated, Elizabeth went to America with her children and refused to divorce Andy.  On their marriage certificate he states his profession as Spirits Salesman. Andy’s older sister Mary and younger brother Alex lived and died at 15 Silvergrove Street.  Andy had a lot of respect for his sister, who died of breast cancer in her 60’s.  Their tenement flat had lots of bolts on the front door, which may have contribute to Alex’s death as he died in a house fire in this property. Andy met Sarah Richardson in 1928/9 and their first child Francis (Frank) was born on 25th Jun 1930.  Still living in Glasgow, they went on to have 3 more children – Robert (Bobby) born 10th Oct 1933, Andrew (Drew) born 4th Jul 1935 and Miriam (Myra) born 5th Mar 1939. Around this time, Andy started his own business where he produce and printed information and betting odds on horse and dog racing.  He’d sell these to people that wanted accurate information so they could place bets.  He must have been well informed and good at his job as he did this work for many years.  He had excellent literary skills, which was evident in letters he wrote to his child later in his life, which is surprising for someone brought up in a rough area of Glasgow and was working in a factory by the time he was 14. Glasgow was a very tough place to live in those years.  There was a booming ship-building industry, as well as a massive textile industry with many factories around the city – one of which Andy’s family worked in when he was younger.  Andy must have been a hard man as when fights would break out in the pub where he drank, he’d break up the fight, so the police wouldn’t shut the pub, and arrange for the 2 men to meet after the pub shut, instructing each to bring their own “Pick Me Up” (a friend that would pick them up when they were knocked to the ground so they could carry on fighting).  Andy would “referee” these fights to ensure a good clean fight.  When the fights were over, he’d ensure the men shook hands and that was the end of the story. In the early 1950’s Andy moved his family to Edinburgh.  They lived at 15 Findlay Gardens and this is where his youngest child, Marcella, was born on 21st Oct 1950. Working in and around the world of betting must have brought Andy very close to the criminal underworld yet there’s no evidence that he was involved in any criminal activity.  He was never in trouble with the law but he had to leave Glasgow in a hurry, for reasons unknown, but likely to be money related. As was the nature of his work, at times he would be flush with cash, but at others he’d be hard up and struggling.  However, he insisted his children be educated and enrolled his 2 eldest sons in a private school in Edinburgh.  One time he got a message from the school to say his sons could no longer attend as he hadn’t paid their school fees.  He marched with his 3 sons straight into the Headmaster’s office and banged his desk with a bag full of cash and warned the Headmaster to never again pass messages like that via his sons. A staunch Protestant, Andy forbade his children to date Catholics. This was common in Scotland in these times, not just for religious reasons but also political. His paternal grandfather was Irish and at his Baptism was registered as Roman Catholic, but it’s possible he was Protestant and hid this fact, which was normal for Protestants in a very Catholic Ireland. Andy was involved in the early boxing career of his son Bobby before he turned professional and moved to London and became British Champion in 1959.  Even though Andy felt education was important, his pride stopped him from signing a Means Test form that would allow Drew to go to university. Frank, Drew and Myra also moved to London and due to marital problems, in 1961/2 encouraged their mother to also move to London with Marcella where they lived at 171 York Way.  Andy later joined them in 1963/4. Andy had health problems which meant a section of his intestine had to be removed.  The intestine never healed fully and which eventually lead to his death in the Royal Free Hospital, St Pancras, on 23rd July 1971 aged 74. It’s not been easy to find out much accurate information about Andy.  Of his children, Frank died in 2003.  Drew had a great memory and spoke openly about his father, warts n’ all, but Drew died in 2003 also.  Myra felt the past should be left in the past so didn’t pass on much information.  Bobby only has good memories of his father and Marcella was young when her father died and didn’t really know him. The impression I’m left with about my Grandfather is, in the words of his sister-in-law Mammie, “a lovable rogue” – a man’s man.  Volunteering to go to war and surviving it unscathed says a lot about him.  He was certainly a hard and tough man, a survivor, intelligent beyond his education.  He was self-employed, self-taught and survived off his own whit and skills.  His line of business was a tough one meaning he must have had to be able to look after himself physically, but also be smart enough to run his own business, single handed.  He battled constant highs and lows in income, which had to be extremely stressful having 5 children to fed - and insisting they go to private school.  He’s never been described as a loving father but ran a tight ship and brought up 5 excellent children so he must have done something right.  For me, I wish I’d got to know him but I was only 4 when he died – I bet he had some fantastic stories to tell about the adventures he got up to and how he got himself in and out of scrapes.  I can see his genes in many of us.  He’s certainly left his mark. He loved his whiskey and always drank doubles. At Drew’s second wedding a friend was making a speech and mentioned this. Mammie chipped in, Aye, well God did'nay make half days.