I must have been about 7 or 8 years old. It was Remembrance Sunday and there were 4 of us Whenham kids creating havoc around the house as Mum desperately tried to keep order. Then, at just before 11am, we were told to keep quiet. Dad rose to his feet in front of the television and stood in silence, almost bolt upright as if on a parade ground, staring at the strange ceremony on the black and white television.

Dad later explained to me that both his father, Arthur, and his Uncle Henry had served in the trenches during World War 1. Arthur was still alive and was my Grandfather. Dad then explained that Henry had died in the War. I was intrigued by this information but, as such a young boy, life continued although it was stored away in my brain somewhere.

Roll the clock forward to 2001, my Grandfather had died some years before, and I am now 37 years old. The internet has been invented and The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) have set up a website that contains details of the World War 1 and 2 deaths. So I was amazed to see the following entry on their website:

WHENHAM, H S
Rank: Private
Service No: L/10209
Date of Death: 04/08/1916
Age: 20
Regiment/Service: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), 6th Bn. 
Grave Reference: I. E. 7.
Cemetery: BOUZINCOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Additional Information:
Son of Arthur William and Elizabeth Jane Whenham, of 18, Brunswick St., Maidstone.

A few weeks later I found myself in Northern France at Henry’s grave. I was almost overcome with emotion on that cold April afternoon. When I signed the visitors’ book I realised that I was probably Henry’s first visitor since his death 85 years before.
In August 2018, I was recruited by Leger Holiday to be one of their guides for the RBL/GP90 event. The event was the largest event held during the World War 1 Centenary period and recreated the 1928 Royal British Legion pilgrimage to the battlefields. It was an experience I will never forget.

I recorded my thoughts about this tour for the Leger website:
Leger Blog
On the way home from that first visit to the Somme, I decided I needed to know more. During the next few years (with help from Dad, his brother Denis and my cousin David) I managed to put together Henry’s story from birth right up to the day he died. It was an incredible journey. 

I became a fundraiser for ABF The Soldiers' Charity in 2014 and my work with them often leads to me meeting inspirational people. At the Beating Retreat in Horseguards Parade in 2018, I was honoured to meet Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2004 for extreme heroism.


Ambushed by rocket propelled grenades and machine gun fire, his commander and gunner were incapacitated and Beharry took the initiative to drive through withering fire out of the killing area.

In order to see he had to keep his hatch open and as a result was shot in the helmet.


Having driven out of the ambush he singlehandedly evacuated his platoon commander and gunner from the stricken vehicle, still under enemy fire.


The following month, recovered from his wounds, his vehicle was ambushed again.

This time a Rocket Propelled Grenade hit the front of the Warrior exploding 6 inches from Beharry’s head and blasting shrapnel into his face, head and brain.


Severely injured he again drove his vehicle out of the ambush, passing out into a coma once clear.
As my interest grew and my research skills developed I helped other people research their World War 1 relatives and, in many cases, organised and led them on a journey to France and Belgium in the footsteps of their heroes. 
I have also become involved in other projects associated with The Great War. 

I have presented Henry’s story to primary schoolchildren and managed workshops to help them understand what is was like to be a soldier in the trenches. 

In March 2021, I became a Volunteer Speaker for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. You can book a talk using this link:
CWGC Talks Booking Form
In 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 I was privileged to walk 75 miles over 3 days between The Somme and Ypres to raise money for The ABF Soldiers Charity. I managed to raise £60,000 for the Charity, who provide help for ex soldiers and their families. 

I will be doing this "Frontline Walk" in October 2022 and anyone can sponsor me by visiting my fundraising page. The walk is now sponsored by Annington Homes. You can sponsor me by using this link:
2022 Frontline Walk

We have now published a book about the Frontline Walk, with all proceeds donated to the charity. I am a co-author. It can be purchased using this link, or on Amazon:

Frontline Walk Book
My wife Elaine and I were honoured to represent the Charity at the World Premiere of the Downton Abbey film in Leicester Square in September 2019:
I often consider these words written by Major Nigel Price, a Falklands veteran (with thanks to Rob Schaefer who asked Major Price to write this passage):

"There is something sacred about a battlefield. Often it is a place where history has changed course. It is a place where men have died, usually en masse and in the prime of their youth and strength. Soldiers don't fight for history, rarely even for Country, and certainly not for governments. They fight because their Regiment places them in harm's way, and their Regiment is family. They fight for their mates. In the last stand they fight for their lives. It is the individual stories of courage and struggle that touch us and sanctify the spot.
 
A battlefield is sacred because it is a point in time and space where soldiers confronted the most intimate of both demons and angels. It is a place where, however frightened, they mustered all that they were and faced death."
This website is dedicated to Great Uncle Private Henry Whenham, 6th Buffs, and my Grandfather Gunner Arthur Whenham DCM, Royal Garrison Artillery.
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