More family members served but thankfully made it home. My research uncovered that 16 Shrubsoles were killed in the Great War, eight of them on the Somme. I read history at the University of Birmingham and under the guidance of some excellent tutors, I grew my knowledge and love of military history. After taking a night ferry and a drive across France, we arrived just in time for my parents to hear the whistles blow and echo across the Somme battlefield.įast forward 15 years, and growing up with a father that loved all things military history meant that I was bound to inherit that fascination. My father had decided the night before that he wanted to get to Beaumont Hamel by 07:30 the next morning and so as a family we set out upon a mad dash to Dover.

I first visited the Somme in 1990 as a babe in arms on the 74th anniversary of the Battle’s first day.

When I meet new people and tell them about my work, after the ‘wow, that’s so fascinating’, the next question I get is, ‘how did you get into that Sophie!?’

A bridge too far wow