| "I felt sorry for my great grandmother, who I'd never met. Of the five sons that went to war, three died and two came back wounded. She must have dreaded the telegrams coming through the door". Jeff lives in Rugeley with his wife Janet. At the age of forty-nine he is retired from Staffordshire Police Force, due to a serious injury he received whilst on duty in 1990. As well as writing books on the first and second world war, Jeff works as a volunteer at the Staffordshire Regimental Museum. "Family have always been important to me ... It is a sobering thought that if my grandfather had not been on leave in 1917 my father wouldn't have been born, and all my brothers and sisters would not be here, so that's the reason for telling my story".
My interest in Military research came about because of a fall down the stairs at home in 1982. While I was recovering, I happened to visit my Uncle Joe. In his garage I noticed a picture frame with a man in military uniform. I asked Uncle Jo who it was, he said "it's your grandfather Elson!" It turned out he'd been killed during world war one and I'd grown up not knowing that he existed. The man I'd always thought was my grandfather was actually my step-grandfather. Suddenly I had a relative I knew nothing about and chatting to Uncle Jo revealed even more family members that I'd never heard of, but whose histories and lives I was now fascinated by. Over the months I visited most of my family and they gave me whatever information they had, as well as photographs and medals. Artifacts that were once spread across the family started to come together. A picture of my extended family began to emerge. I felt sorry for my great grandmother, who I'd never met, of sons that went to war, three died and two came back wounded. One had been shot, gassed and taken prisoner of war. She must have dreaded the telegrams coming through the door. It was quite spooky doing the research because all these coincidences kept happening. My kid brother, for example, was born on the same day that my grandfather was killed. Sometimes it was felt as though my grandfather and his brothers were leading me to the answers I was looking for. That they approved. I wanted to record all this stuff properly. I put all the family history of World War One and World War Two into a book for my relatives, who are all chuffed to bits. My nephew has even got the bug now and has started to want to know more. Perhaps it was fate that I fell down the stairs that day. | 
