[Tomvart]

My paternal Grandfather Robert Vart was an engineer in Swan Hunters Wallsend shipyard prior to WW1, he attested with the Naval reserves on the outbreak of war - but then went to sea with the MN as 3rd engineer in 1915, his first ship - SS Tergestea was mined (and sank) off Aldeburgh Head February 1916, thankfully he survived both the sinking and the war and remained at sea with the MN until the mid 1950's. Roberts older brother William Brett was a Joiner at Hawthorne Leslies shipyard before the war and joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper in 1915 (due to his trade I guess), he was gassed in 1918 while serving with the Yorkshire Regt at the Battles of the Somme and was shipped home for demob due to his injuries.

On my maternal side, my grandfather Joseph was a riveter (Swan Hunters Walker shipyard), he and his younger brother Arthur had joined the Territorials (1/5th Northumberland Fusiliers) in 1913, he as a Pvt, Arthur as a Farrier in the same company, they were shipped to Flanders in early 1915 and almost immediately involved in the Battles at Ypres, where Joseph was wounded (Gunshot to the head) at the Battle of St Julien, he later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (attached the the NF) the regiment and both brothers took an active part in most of the big battles in Flanders/France throughout the war and thankfully survived (in body - although not in mind), although Arthur was badly injured in 1916 (Gunshot wounds to the head, chest and back) while taking part in a Trench raid near Dickebusch.

In addition to the Ypres Battles, they both had active participation in 1st and second battles of the Somme (1916 and 1918), Battles of Arras 1917, Battles for Lys, The Hindenburg Line and Picardy in 1918 - where Joseph earned himself an MM for bravery.

They both were demobbed in 1919, but according to my Grandmother - Joe was mentally ruined after his 4 years in Flanders and sadly resorted to the drink when he got back into the shipyards in 1919 (despite being a churchgoer and abstinent prior to going overseas), he died 11 years before I was born 1950 so I never got to meet him - much to my regret, as he was apparently quite a character.

Joseph discarded his 4 medals after the war (still unmounted and boxed apparently) - no doubt disgusted and disillusioned after his experiences - maybe making a few quid in the process.

Like many men who went through similar ordeals, he never spoke to anyone about his experiences, not even to his closest confidante my Grandmother Jane (his wife).

That war and the Spanish Flu certainly destroyed so many lives both directly and indirectly.