Grave encounter

In 2012, my friend Alison and I were at the end of a three-week tour of Turkey and were visiting an Allied cemetery in Gallipoli. I was walking between the graves when Alison suddenly said: “There’s someone from Minehead,” which is my hometown. On the gravestone were written the words, ‘with ever-loving thoughts from your mother at Minehead’.

I discovered that he was a local boy who’d emigrated to Australia in 1912. I spent months tracing his past and sent for his war records after he signed up for the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment. He settled in Mildura, Victoria, and I was given details on him from a geneologist living there.

A year later, I had five days to spare while in Australia and stayed in Mildura. The locals had more stories, and I spoke to a lady whose maiden aunt was secretly engaged to him. I’ve even won two tickets to join the ‘Peoples' Procession’ past the Cenotaph on 11 Nov. You never know what wonders can be discovered while on your travels. Brenda Boulton, via email