A relative of a World War One soldier has spoken of his delight at the discovery of lost love letters the soldier sent home to his wife before he was killed in the Battle of the Somme.
The letters, found in a donated sewing box at a charity shop in Fulwell, Sunderland, were addressed to a Mrs Mary Fortune from her husband George Ernest, who served in the Durham Light Infantry.
Mr Ernest was then killed on the Somme between July and November 1916, the bloodiest battle fought on the Western Front which resulted in 420,000 British casualties including 125,000 deaths.
A section of one letter reads: We had a little bit of excitement here the other night when there was an aeroplane which had some engine trouble and was forced to land in a corn field which was badly damaged by the people rushing over to see the aeroplane which landed quite safely.
رسائل غرامية من جندي في طريقها لعائلة زوجته بعد 100 عام
albayan.ae - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from albayan.ae Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
رسائل غرامية من جندي في الحرب العالمية تعود أخيراً لصاحبتها
emaratalyoum.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from emaratalyoum.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mary Byrne is cheerfully full of surprises. And the first surprise comes just a few moments into our interview. Meet me at the monastery steps , she tells the reporter. So that is where we rendezvous - on the steps under the arch beside the Glendalough Hotel.
The arch and the steps are obvious landmarks but a pace or two beyond is our first example of the unexpected. She touches a stone slab on our right and there, under her fingers, if you look closely, is a cross scratched into the stone.
In a place littered with iconic, blockbuster reminders of Ireland s Christian heritage, the crude simple cross is a more low-key piece of our history. Most of the hundreds of thousands of people who come to this famous place each year never notice it. Indeed, Mary admits that she too was unaware of its presence for decades until someone pointed it out.