There are some upsides to keeping absolutely everything, particularly when it comes to finding out what went on in the past. My stepfather was a great keeper of stuff, a trait he'd inherited from his mother. She kept everything that mentioned her father, Will Dickens, and my stepfather in his turn kept everything too. He'd never known his grandfather, for Will was in that sad cohort of servicemen who died after the Armistice was signed. William Thomas Dickens was born on 27 March, 1879 in Northampton, the son of William and Ellen Dickens. He worked as a carpenter and joiner for Henry Martin Ltd, the same company as his father, and on 14 May 1905, he married Edith Gordon at St Edmund's, Northampton. They set up home at 151 Loyd Road in Northampton and their only child, a daughter, Margaret (Margie), was born on 6 July 1907. Will was 35 when war broke out in 1914, and he joined up in May 1916 at the age of 37. It seems likely from the date that Will was conscrip