Serjeant Roland H C Stewart

Missing, assumed killed in action in Italy, aged 26

Private John Henry Taylor

Missing during the Dunkirk evacuation, aged 22

Denis Frederick Dean Wilder

Shot down over France while on a bombing run, aged 24

The Weight of Silence

A detour through Staffordshire leads to a profound encounter with history, humanity, and remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum.

Each Name a Story: The Lives Behind a Forgotten War Memorial

Fifteen young men, lost too soon, their names rediscovered from a forgotten Second World War memorial in Rochester. These are stories of courage, sacrifice, and the people behind the names

Luck of the Irish

Joseph Twohey (c1838–1913) an Irish-born soldier whose career spanned Crimea, India, and near-miraculous survival, honoured with Hayling’s first military funeral

A Ruptured Life

James Twohey (1794-1866) an Irishman who served with the British Army and endured hardship in India before being discharged through injury

A ‘desperate state of things’

Alexander Cameron Brock (1855-1898) a forgotten family story, uncovered through hospital archives, reveals the quiet tragedy of a Victorian doctor lost to mental illness

The Good Mother

Leah Ellen Mayo (1847–1927) a young widow, navigated poverty, prejudice, and impossible choices - then reinvented herself to keep her family together

What’s in a name

Julia Lane? (c.1840–1925): Illiterate but resilient, she rose from famine-era Ireland to hardship in London, through her inner strength and determination