A Gift 85 Years in the Making

Imagine you lost your parents years ago. Imagine that today–decades after they passed–a stranger delivers to you a final letter from them. You thought you would never hear from them again. But here they are, one last time.

Emily Crowhurst never imagined she would receive such a letter. But through love, war, loss, and a dash of genealogical good fortune, that all changed one day in 1999.

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Private Thomas Hughes, a soldier since 1905, was a member of the Durham Light Infantry in England. He was among the first soldiers called to the war in 1914. BritishArmedForces.org states that Private Hughes and his brothers-in-arms “landed at St Nazaire and made their way to the River Aisne, north of Rheims, where Germans were dug in. [Hughes] and 40 comrades died on September 21 [1914]. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated with 4,000 British ‘unknown soldiers’ at the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre memorial.”

Colour Party of the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, 1909. Photo from Wikipedia. Unknown source.

In other words, when Hughes died, Continue reading →