The piece focused on John Gavaghan, born in Batley in 1896, who was gazetted for the Military Medal on November 9, 1917, although the action in which he was involved could have been several weeks before.

Certainly he was involved with his regiment, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, in the Flanders offensive which culminated in the third battle of Ypres more often referred to as Passchendaele.

It soon became apparent that John had not died in the war as his name could not be found on any of the websites relating to the fallen of World War One. A search of the general register office index for those who died in the conflagration also failed to yield any reference.

However, in response to the article his survival was verified when I was contacted by his daughter who, in turn, referred me to one of his sons.

Not only did he survive the war but he married in 1928 and had nine children, the eldest of whom is nearing eighty years of age and living on the Yorkshire coast, Another son emigrated to Australia where he died a few months ago. John Lived to the age of 77, dying in 1973.

However, an aura of mystery still surrounds his life. He was a quiet, undemonstrative man who refused to speak about his wartime experiences, even to his family. After losing three brothers in the conflict this is understandable.

However, his son is convinced he remained connected to the Army and his daughter confirms that he served with the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of sergeant major and acting as chef during the annual training fortnight.

There is a photograph of him being driven in a Wolseley and another one of his meeting the Queen Mother, then the Duchess of York. Sadly these photographs are in Australia and no means of access has yet been found.

John appears to have spent the rest of his working life as a condenser minder at the Batley firm of J T and J Taylor at Blakeridge Mills, where my own father worked from 1919 to 1965. They probably knew each other!

The inscription on the war memorial refers to Private John Gavaghan. 12/1682 KOYLI, who enlisted on July 29, 1915 and was discharged owing to his wounds on May 12, 1916. He was a miner of 66 Hume St, Batley and he died, as a result of the wounds he received, on April 11, 1919 at the age of 53. He is buried in Batley Cemetery.

So much of the story has been uncovered but there are tantalising loose ends which Geraldine, who first acquainted me with the outline, and I would like to tie up.
The circumstances under which the Military Medal was awarded remain obscure.

Geraldine has ascertained that John was on a special detail of seven men. Special details were often sent to attack enemy trenches under the cover of darkness. The attacks involved hand to hand fighting, usually with clubs and knuckledusters as well as knives, bayonets and garottes. The objective was to find the enemy's strength and positions.

There also remains the mystery of his younger brother Peter, also of the Borderers, who died in August 1918. His death is not detailed in the local press. There is a grave and memorial reference; IB9 at Buzancy Military Cemetery but that is all the information we have.

This was the time of the last desperate German thrust towards Paris, which occurred on July 15. Foch launched a counter offensive on the 18th which led to the recovery of the initiative by the Allies.

As part of the plan Foch stipulated for a reserve of British divisions. The 15th Division, of which the 7/8 Battalion of the Borderers formed a part, was told to transfer with immediate effect.

They had been in the trenches for a considerable time and were nearing the end of their long wearying stint when they had to march five miles to the railway in pouring rain.
"Thunder and lightning were suitable preliminaries for what was to come." (Extract from Regimental Diary)

On July 17, the three companies of men found themselves on the River Oise and on the following day they marched to the town of Cinqueux where buses took them to the forest of Compiegne. From there a night march took them to a point seven miles west of Buzancy which was still in German hands. There they formed part of the Tenth Army under General Mangin and took part in the second Battle of the Marne.

The move forward began at 6pm over broken ground, the task for the Borderers was to leave the plateau, drop into the valley, cross the marshy ground at the bottom and ascend the heights facing Buzancy. Gaining this position in itself was a nightmare; it was dark and the terrain was unfamiliar.

But they had made it by the time the Franco-American-British barrage started at 4.10am on July 23. The infantry attack was launched at 4.55am but it was immediately apparent that something had gone wrong with the barrage for the men soon came under machine gun fire.

The Borderers only advanced 200 yards and no other unit progressed as far. The attack was bogged down and the regiment formed a defensive flank with the French alongside a company from the Scottish Rifles. Casualties were heavy in gaining those few yards and three officers were killed.

Commanding officer Colonel Hart was badly hit and it was feared that it was all up for the battalion. But through the conspicuous bravery of the men the position was held and the Allies began the final advance of the war.

There were three hundred and nine casualties of which thirty two were killed outright and two hundred and fourteen wounded. Of the sixty three reported missing the majority were later proved to have been killed.

Peter died in this melee but at what point in the battle cannot be ascertained. His brother John also took part in the battle but whether they were in contact with each other will never be known.

In addition to the family several people have responded with help and advice and I would like to thank them most sincerely for their interest.