Family Surprise

During my searches for family history I came to a brick wall when trying to trace the death of my maternal grandfather. Now, in genealogical research, this is a common occurrence and there comes a time when you are fooled by an 'accepted' piece of family 'folklore'. In this case, the only thing we knew was that he was killed on the last day of the First World War and that he was lighting a cigarette, being the third one from the same match. For those not familiar with the myths and legends connected to these occasions, it was always stated that if you were in darkness and lit a cigarette, the flare of the match could be seen for long distances. If you lit two cigarettes from one match (you and your mate) there was enough time for an enemy soldier to aim at the light. If there was a third person in the group, the sniper would have the extra time to aim and fire with accuracy, usually resulting in a death.
I was a member of the Society of Genealogists and my wife and I went to Charterhouse building off the City Road to have a look at the newspapers, complete with casualty lists for the relevant period.

After that visit and for many years afterwards we were still no nearer, but infinitely changed ... especially when we did finally track him down. The result was a poem I wrote off the cuff with my feelings : -

IN MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER WHO DIED IN WWI

(Shows how wrong you can be with Family legends.)

According to years of family tales there's one that sent us off the rails

Maternal Grandad Appleton his story was a real good one!

He died in the War to end all Wars, to us that's World War One,

he lasted out to the very last day just before the end, he was done.

He died, so they said, 'cos he wanted a fag, his mates had a couple to spare

but trying to light it cost him his life, as the Bosche got a bead on the flare.

"Never light three cigarettes off one match!" was the mantra that rings from the past

The first two...OK but the third..no no no, 'cos the first puff could just be your last.

So the legend was born, last day of the war, he was "third off the very last match"

He'll be easy to find when we search for his death ...and that's when we spotted the catch.

He didn't appear on the casualty lists though we searched them until we felt ill

As page after page of reports of the deaths haunt us...they're with us all still.

It was several years later we learned of the truth, he hadn't died then, not at all.

as for "third off the match" well we'll never know, p'raps he wasn't heroic at all!

He died two years before the end of the war from a bullet, or hand propelled bomb;

he'd not had a drag at a fag ... he was just one of thousands who died on the Somme!

R I P (c) Text 2004 Brian Damerell