Hero....

On an errand for my father today.

His new (4th) book is on Hampshire winners of the Victoria Cross, and he asked me if I could pop in to Hursley Church to take a photo of the cross that was used to mark Dennis Hewitt's grave when he lost his life in 1917. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate, which lists all soldiers who died and who have an unknown grave, but surely if this cross was placed in the ground, then there must have been a body to bury?

I'm not going to lose too much sleep over that - but it really does put everything else into perspective when young lads aged 19 were put in command of men and expected to lead them into battle. And ultimately ending up dying over something they had so little control over. I can't even begin to imagine the bravery that someone like Dennis would have had to show when, having captured his objective in Ypres in July 1917, he was then hit by a piece of shell which exploded the signal lights in his haversack and set fire to both his equipment and his clothes. After all this, he then led what was left of his command forward under heavy machine gun fire and successfully captured his next objective. And he then ended up being killed by a sniper

So much luck involved in surviving war - and so many sad stories.

A toast to you Dennis - and to all of your colleagues who showed so much bravery in circumstances that we cannot even comprehend. Well done sir .......