When I was on the Great War battlefields recently......

[waco16]

Completely with you on that, Roger...

Around 25 years ago we had a major fire at our house that caused a huge amount of damage.
It started in the room where my Grandfathers medals were framed on the wall, on either side of the only picture we had of him in his uniform.

The fire brigade had swept all of the debris from the room into a large bin, that I spent hours going through trying to find his medals
I'm pleased to say all 4 were found, albeit in a bit of a state - Frame, ribbons and sadly the picture gone, but the medals themselves survived
That fire caused over £25,000 worth of damage - a lot of money 25 years ago - but the thing that caused me the most trauma was the thought of losing his medals

They're back on the wall again - in a new frame with replacement ribbons, but they are the same medals he was awarded

Eventually my son will have them and I know he will cherish and respect them in the way I do