eBook
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Fragments of Remembrance
Year
2022
Language
ENGLISH
Publication Information
Hampstead Pals
Summary
Over one hundred years have now passed since the ending of the Great War of 1914-18, yet still, the grief of ordinary families is carried down through generations. People are still searching for the last resting places of loved ones. Their Lost Boys. So, can anything new, that has not already been written about war and remembrance, still tell a forgotten story? The answer is yes and written here, through the eyes of Hampstead Pals. Created in 1978 by a small group of Metropolitan Police Officers known as the 'Hampstead Pals', this battlefield touring group regularly visit the evocative battlefields of the Western Front 1914-18, and, with the unfailing assistance of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, locates the graves of lost family members. This is the simple but extremely moving story of graves found and names on memorials located, not only of grandfathers but of uncles and great uncles, in each case, personally told by the descendants themselves as their search to recover their 'lost boys' is finally concluded. All in all, a captivating contribution to the history of the Great War on a very personal level which also contains the fascinating stories of visits to the graves of fallen International Rugby Players. Told for the first time, too, are the reminiscences of five old soldiers who accompanied the Hampstead Pals on their last journey to the 'Holy Land' of their youth.