Talk by Peter Ewart
Peter Ewart kept members in the audience absolutely enthralled with his talk at our last meeting entitled “Some Mother's Son" on how he had traced the story of a young soldier of the First World War through the pages of an unnamed family photograph album found in a second-hand bookshop in Northgate Canterbury a few years ago. With very few clues of his identity to go on he explained how he had gradually unravelled the story starting with photos of a young mother cradling a new baby in her arms at the beginning of the album and then going through scenes of him as a toddler with his parents and brother in family settings culminating with photos of him as a young man proudly posing in his army uniform. With detailed investigations based on examination of the cap badge on his uniform, by using records held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and other various means he finally identified the young man as Gordon William Davey London Regiment (London Scottish) who died on 3th December 1917 aged 19 years who is buried in Grevillers British Cemetery His parents were William J Davey and Lilian M Davey of Allfarthings Lane Wandsworth.
He deduced that the photograph album had been lovingly compiled by his mother to his memory after his death and Peter was finally able to piece this touching story together 80+ years later. Peter’s talk demonstrating his perseverance and dedication in unfolding this story was truly a fitting tribute to this soldier and the thousands of other young men who lost their lives in the 1914- 18 conflict.