Jack Ryan


Photograph of Jack Ryan


Oxfordshire. As a child (born near Middlesbrough in 1958), I was always proud to read my great uncle’s name on the village memorial to the dead of WW1. Later, as a French teacher, accompanying trips to the Western Front, I looked for his name in vain (though I now know he is buried on the Somme, rather than one of the missing as my grandmother had told me). Then my dad, a Cromwell tank driver in WW2, told me about his own personal war experience on several trips to Normandy together and about his brother, a Green Howard, KIA in the Sicily Landings in 1943. Finally, developing a passion (or is that an obsession?) with genealogy in the past year, I have pulled together lots of information and discovered other family members who were killed serving their country. All our War Dead were someone’s family, just like mine, and volunteering gives me the chance to keep their memory alive in the hope they will matter to somebody somewhere.


Volunteers

The project relies solely on volunteer help. If you believe you can help in any way (photographing, admin, sponsorship, etc) then please contact us. If you would like to help with the photography please download the Guidance and Volunteer policy PDF via link on the volunteers page.