WW1 Soldier's bible returned to family

"A fallen war hero’s Bible which he had in his breast pocket when he was killed in World War One has been reunited with his family - by a stranger who spent 35 years tracking them down.

Private George Ford, who served in the Sherwood Foresters, was shot dead during the Battle of the Somme in 1918 - aged just 20.

His bloodied uniform and all his belongings, including the Bible, were sent back to his distraught family in Nottingham and placed in an attic for safe keeping.

The black leather-bound book stayed in the box gathering dust for 59 years until it was discovered by builder Ken Greensitt who found it while renovating the home in 1977.

Mr Greensitt, 40, decided to give the Bible - which contains an inscription on the inside cover urging the brave solider to 'put his faith in God' - to his nine-year-old son Allan.

Allan kept the Bible safe and when he was an adult vowed to track down Pte Ford’s relatives and return it to them.

Over the next 35 years Allan, using birth, marriage and death certificates, painstakingly built up Pte Ford’s family tree and even contacted the Sherwood Foresters for help.
But his biggest breakthrough came after he scoured the 1911 census when it became available last year."
Bible that was in soldier's pocket when he was killed during WWI is returned to his family after stranger tracks them down | Mail Online

 

Thank you for the story. I clicked on the link you provided and was very touched by the whole story, especially the reactions of the private's relatives.

 

Pleasure, Al.

 

I note that Nick Enoch, the journalist responsible for the story, has duly complied with the newspaper convention that, no matter how interesting or poignant a story is, at least three errors must be inserted. The errors are:

The volume in question is not a copy of the Bible, but of the New Testament only.

It is neither leather-bound nor black, but cloth-bound and a reddish brown.

George Ford was not killed at The Battle of the Somme (July-September 1916), but in whatever fighting was in that area in January 1918.

Journalists seem constitutionally incapable of avoiding errors, but it should not be the function of the Forum to perpetuate them.

 

Coder,
I don't edit stories before I post them, since it's not my job. It would also be MY words then and not the original ones.
Members freely point out any errors contained in those stories, so the forum isn't really perpetuating them.