Its Remembrance Day today so like millions of people around the world I took a few minutes to remember those who gave their lives and sacrificed their health in times of war.
This year seems especially more poignant as in the course of researching the family tree I have discovered a little more about an ancestor who died on the battlefield in WW1.
William Hulme, my great, great Grandfather fought in the Kings Own Lancashire Regiment 1st Battalion. He was one of the first to go to war in 1914 and served until he died in the battle of Arras in France in 1917. I always knew I had a relative that died in world war one - I have in my possession a deactivated hand grenade that he brought back on his first leave. Such is the nature of families and history, that is all I knew about him until recently. Discovering the record of his death on the War Graves Commission website gave more details about where he had served. It's led me on a fascinating journey researching about some of the history of the war and those who served, the conditions they faced and just how tough it was on the front line.
I still haven't managed to track down a photograph of my ancestor, but here's some fabulous old photographs I found of his battalion - he's probably on there somewhere!
Life in the trenches was hard - but they still managed to maintain those marvellous moustaches!
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