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236681 Pte. Henry Claude Thatcher British Army 17th Btn. London Regiment from:Bromley-by-Bow My granddad, Henry Thatcher, joined the Territorial London Regiment in 1911. His father had served in the Army, so I think this was expected of him. He went on to serve in France. He was buried in mud for three days (under his horse and a wagon?). After three days was found by another division. He was, I believe, gassed and lost his ear drums, so was profoundly deaf and suffered all his life from terrible giddiness. He had very bad shell shock, too, and suffered from this for the rest of his life. His worst memories and nightmares consisted of hearing the horses screaming. He said that that noise was a worse memory than those concerning his mates. I think this War haunted him all his life and, despite fire watching in WW2 in the East End, he never got over his time in France. He hated his medals. He was discharged from the Army in 1922, according to his pension. He was a very lovely, gentle man. Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please put the first part of your email, (before the @ sign) in the first box, and the second part in the second box. Do not include @, it is automatic. Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**