PORTFOLIO OF TOURS & RESEARCH PROJECTS
This page is dedicated to the 500 plus soldiers that I have researched on behalf of their families. I have also included images and stories of some of the family pilgrimages that I have guided. I will never forget the moments when we stand in the field where a soldier was killed, wounded or taken prisoner, or at his final resting place or name on one of the memorials to the missing.

2nd Lt W. Eric Limont, attached to 12th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme on 14th July 1916. He was the only one of his unit killed that day. His comrades buried him where he fell but his grave was later lost. He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. 


In April 2019 I researched his story for his family.  The research file was presented to his relative on his 80th birthday:


"Hi Terry


It’s my dad’s birthday today and I gave him the document you created, made into a book, as well as the replica medals. If ever there was a man totally lost for words, and totally overwhelmed, it was him. 


He was amazed at the information you had been able to find and incredibly touched by your work. 


I really can’t thank you enough. 


Judith Tetlow – July 2019"


During the Frontline Walk, Judith found the spot where Eric was buried. He may still be there...

I am often asked to present stories of the Great War to Royal British Legion members, lunch clubs, schools and history groups. In March, I received this message from Toddington Royal British Legion:


Dear Terry,


The committee of the Toddington Branch of the Royal British Legion have asked me to offer our sincere thanks for your excellent display and talk at our recent AGM.


Your passion and knowledge you have for your subject was clear for all to see. The feedback our Branch have received is all very positive.


We all hope to invite you back for a possible future event.


Warm Regards,


Harvey Silver LLB (Hons)

Chairman Toddington RBL

In May 2018, Terry's Tours guided the family of Private G/21026 Archibald Sargeant, 7th Buffs to the Somme and Ypres, following in his footsteps. 


Archibald was involved in one of the few successful actions on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, when they successfully attacked the German fortified village of Montauban. His Great Nephew, Martin, stood on the very spot that this photo of the Buffs was taken on that day:
On 12th October 1917, the Buffs were lined up in this road and attempted to attack German positions ahead of them, near the village of Poelcappelle in Belgium. It was the Battle of Passchendaele. The attack was a complete disaster. The supporting British artillery barrage opened too late and landed on top of the Buffs. German machine guns in Gloster Farm caused heavy casualties. They suffered nearly 400 casualties that day, and Archibald was one of 146 of them that had disappeared. He was never found. 
Gloster Farm was rebuilt after the war. As we approached the farm, the owners came out to greet us and gave us a guided tour of the outbuildings, where they had stored the "iron harvest" from the fields. They had dug out numerous pairs of army boots, which could have been worn by Archibald:
The Sargeant family paid their respects to Archibald at the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing:
In a nearby military cemetery, Cement House, we found 2 unknown soldiers from the Buffs whose bodies had been found after the war and reburied. The family wondered whether one of these graves may have been Archibald:
In June 2017, Terry's Tours guided the Parker family to the Somme in search of their relative Private George Clifford Sheldon, 6th Cheshire's, who was killed on 14th October 1916 in the Schwaben Redoubt. On the way we stopped in a field near Wulverghem in Belgium. On Christmas Day 1914, Private Sheldon had taken part in the famous truce. I was reading these words that were written by Sergeant Major Naden:

"We had a rare old jolification, which included football, n which the Germans took part"

when one of the family stopped me and told me that Naden had been their teacher during the 1950's. He had taken particular care of them. He must have known George so perhaps he was fulfilling a promise made to him during the War? This photo was taken on the spot where George participated in the famous truce:
The Cheshire's then moved to the Somme and took part in the taking of the infamous Schwaben Redoubt. It had been attacked several times, without success, since the beginning of the battle in July. Finally, in October 1916, the last corner of the redoubt fell to the Cheshire's. Private Sheldon was killed during the hand to hand fighting and his body recovered in the 1920's. He was reburied just a few yards away, in the Mill Road Cemetery. As we approached the battlefield and cemetery on a boiling hot day, the family were overcome with emotion at his graveside. They had known about him all their lives and finally they were with him. As we held a minute's silence to remember George, a solitary bird sang in a tree just a few yards away. 
George's Great Nephew, Richard, found the spot where the body was found. A single poppy was growing there:

In June 2018, we accompanied the 3 Grandaughters of Rifleman 44219 Frank Snow, 15th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles who was killed in action just a few before the Armistice.  In October 1918, the BEF had finally cleared the Germans from the Passchendaele Ridge and were now advancing across the open, green fields beyond. 


On 2nd October 1918, the Royal Irish Rifles took part in, what their War Diary described, as a "minor operation" against 3 farms.  They suffered 100 casualties as machine gun fire from these farms cut them down. Frank was one of those casualties.
As we travelled across the Flanders countryside in Frank's footsteps, we used trench maps to establish the exact location. This map showed that Claraborough House, one of the farms mentioned in the diary, was still standing. Frank's Granddaughters were able to stand on the location where he was killed.
We listened to some music and read a poem and then held a minute's silence to remember Frank. The sisters then stood in silence for about 15 minutes, holding hands, wiping a tear away and looking at Frank's photograph as they thought about the Grandfather they never met. It was an incredibly moving experience.
We then made our way to Ypres and Frank's final resting place, Menin Road South Cemetery:
That wasn't the end of the story though. Frank's widow never forget him. 41 years after his death, Gertrude died. Her final wish was to be reunited with him. Her wish was granted. Dawn, Joy and Wendy were reunited with both of their Grandparents on that sunny June day.
That evening, they laid a wreath at the Menin Gate during the Last Post Ceremony:

Private 266928 John Thurman of 7th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters died on the first day of the German Spring Offensive in March 1918. His 2 Grandchildren were aware that he had died in the war, but knew little else. Until they embarked on Terry's Tours on the 100th anniversary of his death.


Their father, also called John, was born 5 months after his death. 


The Battalion War Diary records the following:

“At 4.56 a.m. the enemy put down a very heavy barrage on the front line system; trench mortars and field artillery continued the bombardment at an intense rate until about 9.45 a.m. At the same time, our battery positions were heavily engaged by the enemy's heavy and field artillery. At 5.05 a.m. communication by wire to Bde. H.Q. was broken; the only message that went through after that was one by pigeon timed about 6 a.m. reporting a heavy bombardment. At about 8 a.m. the shelling, which had been very largely gas, changed to H.E. At about 10 a.m. the barrage was reported to have lifted on to the second system, i.e. it was behind the Battalion. Only 14 men of the Battalion escaped unwounded from the trenches and it appears from their reports that the enemy broke through on both flanks, and, coming round behind the QUEANT-ECOUST railway cut off and completely surrounded the Battalion.


Private Thurman was one of 168 Sherwood Forester's killed. More than any other British Battalion that day.  153 of them remain missing and are remembered on the Arras Memorial.


We took his Grandchildren to the quiet spot near Bullecourt where John was killed:
In December 1920, after the Armistice, the battlefields were cleared by the Graves Registration Unit and they found 29 Sherwood Foresters in the area, all of whom had fallen on 21st March 1918. 9 of them were identified and 20 remain unknown. They were buried together in the nearby Queant Road Cemetery. We found these graves and wondered whether John is one of them:
Our final stop was at the Arras Memorial where Private Thurman is commemorated:
"Thanks for the extremely in depth research file. We knew that John’s name is on the Sherwood Foresters war memorial at Crich but we didn’t even know that there was a Mapperley Colliery war memorial. We will make a point of visiting it. Bearing in mind that the official battle records are lost, you have identified an amazing amount of information. Thanks again for bringing it all to life."

Stewart Powers – March 2018
In October 2019, I guided my first ever school tour to the Somme. The school was Northampton High School and the students were a credit to their school, their families and themselves as they took a great interest in the soldiers' stories and participated in the various tasks that we gave them. 

"We cannot thank you enough for everything you did for our Somme Trip. Thinking last night about how brilliant it all went mostly thanks to you."

Andy Donaldson
Head of History
Northampton High School
Darren Parker and his former Royal Military Police comrades Andy and Chris were reunited for the 2017 Frontline Walk. On the third morning, Darren received an email from his aunt in New Zealand. She asked him to keep a look out for his ancestor Samuel Rudge, who was apparently buried “somewhere on the Western Front”. Incredibly, two hours later Darren was paying his respects to Samuel at the Tyne Cot Cemetery. 

Darren was almost overcome with emotion – “it was incredible” he explained. “When I woke up that morning I had no idea that Samuel Rudge even existed. Now there I was, close to where he died 100 years ago, feeling such strong emotions for a man I didn’t even know”. Further research revealed that Samuel was killed by shellfire less than a mile from where he is now buried. It was one of the “quiet” days on the battlefield, with just five men from his Battalion killed. His body was initially buried by his comrades where he fell but was exhumed and reburied in Tyne Cot Cemetery in September 1919, two years after he died. There he lay, almost forgotten, until Darren came along on a cold October morning and ensured that Samuel Ridge will always be remembered.

This incredible story, and many others from the Frontline Walk, are told in a book written by myself and Military Historian Steve Roberts:
Frontline Walk Book

In August 2020, I was asked to research  a regular soldier who had been killed in the first few months of the war, just before Christmas 1914.  His name was Abraham Stevenson who had already served 11 years in the army when war broke out.


His Battalion, 1st Seaforth Highlanders, fought off violent attempts by the massed German army to destory the BEF. Abraham was killed and his body, like so many others, lost forever on the battlefield. 


106 years later, Abraham's family  were deeply affected when they discovered what had happened to him:


"Thankyou Terry.  It is heartbreaking but so important to know, as Abraham was loved by the family. They never got over the loss of him. I am so grateful to you for this, and have sent it to my other cousins in America.  Many tears here but we now know and understand what happened. 


 This  îs monumental for us all."
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