My Great-Grandad

When my Granny and her brother were little they used to go with their dad the Sunday after Armistice Sunday every year and put poppies on the grave of his brother Herbert.

Herbert died from wounds after being shot in the head at Etapes when he was 19. He's actually buried at Etapes, but the wooden cross in France was brought back to Edinburgh to the family plot in the Dean cemetery.

My great-grandad, Ralph C. Smith was blown up by a shell two weeks later and after amputating an arm and a leg he was told he wouldn't survive the night. He was determined to survive though because he didn't want to make his mother sad, and he did. Just one of the fine details that lead to me being here.

Now I go with my Granny and her brother each year and put the poppies down.