Air mechanic Ist Class, Joseph Taylor

As today is the offical centenary when Britain and the Commonwealth entered the First World War it seemed appropriate to think of my grandfathers. This excellent site put up by the Imperial War Museum has set itself the ambitious target of remembering all British and Commonwealth men and woman who somehow contributed to the First World War. I have just discovered my grandfathers' names and am attempting to upload information about them. Do take a look, the sheer numbers and youth of all those mainly young men is sobering.

Here is my maternal grandfather Joe who enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps on the 11th December 1915 aged 18. The Royal Flying Corps , a bit of hasty research has discovered, was the Army branch of the new aviation corps created in 1912. At the beginning of the War the pilots were mainly responsible for photographic reconaissance and the occasional dogfight but by 1916 they were part of the main military action. The RFC was intended to play a leading role in the Battle of the Somme but low cloud made flying difficult. An astonishing 800 planes were lost though and 252 crew killed. They flew Sopwith Camels or Bristol Fighters - tiny planes, part canvas with hardly any protection. In 1918 the RFC merged with the Royal Naval Air Service and the RAF was born, a new arm of the military working alongside the Navy and the Army. During the First World War, these pilots put in 900,00 flying hours and 9,378 pilots were killed and many more injured.

How young Grandpa Joe looks in this photo. I have another one of him in full uniform, a formal portrait with a painted backdrop, and he's managed to grow a moustache but still manages to look incredibly young. As far as I can work out, Joe was sent to France in June 1916 as Mechanic Ist Class in B Flight, 70 Squadron RFC. He was wounded on the 26th October, presumably over France and hospitalised in Cambridge. His elbow was completely smashed, his own bone beyond repair it was replaced with that of a sheep or a pig (stories differ) - the first time this operation had ever been attempted. He survived and his love of flying was undiminished - more about him here.

Every family will have stories like this and every person deserves to be remembered.