Never forget them

mY FAther would never tell me what he did and saw in the great War, except to say he was at Ypres, the somme and Passchendaele.

he joined the clamour of war in 1914, aged just 16. too young for the front line, he served as a stretcher bearer in the medical Corps, rescuing injured men from the battlefield and bringing back the mutilated bodies of those who fell.

those memories must have haunted him for the rest of his life. It explains why every year he arranged the local remembrance parade and church service, and worked tirelessly for the royal British Legion.

Poppy day for my father was not about the glorification of war but about raising funds to help those who had returned from war and were no longer unable to help themselves.

our house from mid-october was like the fields of Flanders, filled with trays of poppies, posters and collecting tins. BRIAN L. ROBERTS, Solihull, W. Mids. tWo of my uncles died in World War I: one in France in 1915 and the other in greece in 1917. We have visited their graves on the 100th anniversaries of their deaths.

Last month we went to greece to be at the graveside of Frank smith, who died not of a battle wound but of sickness, as many soldiers did during the salonika campaign.

It saddens me that many young people are refusing to wear poppies in remembrance of those who gave their lives for what they believed in.

PAMELA IVES, Wareham, Dorset. VIsItIng an old people’s home, I met an elderly gentleman who was really down. he felt his campaign medals were worthless.

I contacted the royal British Legion and a representative came the next day and spent the whole afternoon talking with the old chap.

they shared their experiences of military life, of friendships and losses and how their lives had progressed after their military service. It was a true meeting of souls.

After that, that old veteran was once again proud of his war service.

SUSAN DAVEY, Coventry.