Young people in Sevenoaks write letters to those who served in WW1

Sevenoaks Town Mayor Roderick Hogarth with Terry Malone who made the special post box which is now in The Stag Theatre foyer.

YOUNG people across Sevenoaks have been invited to send letters to those who served in WW1 as part of this month’s centenary commemoration.

A bespoke poppy post box was created by local carpenter Terry Malone and will remain in the Stag foyer for the rest of the November for the letters.

All of the letters received will be scanned and uploaded to the Sevenoaks Town Council website.
Below is one of the letters from Samuel Tansley, age 11, Year 7 at the New Beacon School.

Dear 2nd Lt Alan George Hilton Livesey
My name is Samuel Tansley. I have written to you to thank you for your sacrifices and exploits during the Great War. Like you did, I attend the New Beacon School in Sevenoaks. Unlike you, I have never seen the horrors of a battlefield, the brutal clamour of war, the cruelty of man set against man, under instructions to kill. I have known the fear and the crippling dread of an unknown and horrible death.
What I do know is peace and freedom and a life lived under free skies and friendly times. I know when I wake up, that I will have a good day because you suffered so many bad days for your country, your family, and your friends and for the children of the future, like me.
When you were at school, you played football, like me. You studied hard and went to university, earned a degree and started your career. But then the war came and you did your duty. They found your body at the edge of the German trenches, you had died leading your men into action, a hero. Your short life will be remembered by me and by others. We are truly grateful that you stood up and walked into No Man’s Land with such courage until you couldn’t walk any further. You were 26 years old when you died.