HISTORY: Memoirs tell of brotherly love during First World War

This is Local London: HISTORY: Memoirs tell of brotherly love during First World War

THE great-nephew of a man who was killed during the First World War has uncovered his great-uncle's life story.

Martin Cearns, 65, of Baldwin's Hill, Loughton, found the memoirs of his great-uncle Fred Cearns, while clearing out his childhood home in Chigwell five years ago.

They were written a few months after his great-uncle died at the battle of Passchendaele in Belgium in 1917 by his younger brother, Percy, before being printed and bound.

Mr Cearns believes they stayed on a bookshelf at his parents’ old home in Meadow Way for nearly 100 years.

He discovered the book while cleaning out the house before it was sold in 2005 and decided to have them published for a wider audience.

“I never knew it existed,” he said. “It was in a rather dull brown cover and I’m grateful I didn’t throw it away.

“When I read it, I thought ‘what a tremendous story’ and I thought it had a wider appeal.”

Although Passchendaele, officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, became famous for the massive number of casualties and the deep clay mud the troops had to deal with, Mr Cearns said what stood out for him was the account of his great uncles’ time away from the horrors of the front line.

“What I found incredible was Fred and Percy were both in France and Belgium in 1916 and 1917 Percy was a dispatch bike rider and he kept on meeting up with his brother Fred.”

He said the brothers, who grew up in Plaistow as part of a family of 13, would even go to restaurants and the cinema together while they were not fighting.

“They were able to go around the French country lanes. He’d find his brother’s battalion and described him having picnics in the fields with cakes from their mum at home.

“You couldn’t imagine that in the horrors of the First World War that someone could get on his dispatch motorbike and meet up with his brother.”

Fred Cearns was killed in Passchendaele in August 1917 aged 28 and his body, like those of many involved in the battle, was never found.

The memoirs also speak about his time playing for the reserves at West Ham United football club before the war and the family connection has continued, with his great-nephew acting as a director for the club for nearly 30 years.

His book, called The Love of a Brother, from Plaistow to Passchendaele, is available from Epping Bookshop in the High Street or online from www.postmaster.co.uk/~cearnsbooks/205960 costing £10.

Proceeds will go to the charity Help for Heroes.