244689 Pte. Frank Kehoe British Army 5th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment from:Dingle, Liverpool (d.24th July 1944) A war veterans education project has brought together a World War II veteran and the family of another Liverpool man, who was killed next to him in battle.
The members of the Kehoe family never knew Frank Kehoe, from Dingle, who was killed, aged just 19, in July 1944 while fighting for his country near Caen in north west France.
But thanks to the Giving Veterans a Voice project, led by writer Lesley Van DeMark, who works at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) as a student support mentor, they have now met his former comrade in arms, Bob Laverty.
The project also included They Need You, a song inspired by the veterans and written by Emma Buckley, a LIPA student who performs under the name Ruby Sky. It has been released on iTunes with proceeds going to the Royal British Legion. Tony Kehoe, one of Frank's nephews, says: Frank and Bob joined the army at the same time, when they were 18, and Bob was saying they were the young ones, the oldest ones, who they looked up to, were just 20.
Frank was killed instantly by a shrapnel mine, I knew my uncle died in the war, but to have the details from someone who was there has brought it all together.
Giving Veterans a Voice, which was funded by Liverpool City Council and the Ministry of Defence, saw veterans sharing their memories for a DVD, which is being used as a teaching aid in schools. A celebration event to mark the end of the project took place at the Florence Institute in Dingle, which Bob and Frank, although they didn't know each other then, went to as youngsters.
Bob, 90, who now lives in Lydiate, says: I was delighted to meet Frank's relatives, I did, years and years ago, meet his mother. Frank was such a nice, respectful and decent lad, a smashing lad. It was such a good day at the Florrie, and such a good song.
Report from the Liverpool Echo.
|