THE poignant readings at the BBC Remembrance on Monday 4 August made me think of my granddad.
He was a railwayman all his life and was on duty at Chiseldon Station when a troop train came in from the coast.
The badly wounded and sick soldiers were standing on the platform waiting to be transported to various hospitals.
One young boy, barely able to stand from coughing and being supported by his friends, was so ill my grandfather turned and looked at him.
He was looking at his 17 year old baby brother.
My grandfather found the person in charge only to be told “He won’t survive, he is too badly injured from the mustard gas.”
He was released to my grandfather to take home.
Survive he did with my grandmother nursing him. Six months later he went home to Malvern and in time he married a Welsh girl and moved to Wales.
He never forgot what my grandparents did for him and used to come and visit every summer holiday. The supreme sacrifice made by these young men should never be forgotten.
E Fox, Meadowcroft, Swindon
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