The trumpets sounded, a nation's call,
Young men marched, standing proud and tall.
A future painted, brave and bright,
Stepped into the darkness, and the endless night.

From cobbled streets and fields of green,
A generation's curse, a tragic scene.
They left behind their loves and kin,
To fight a war they couldn't win.
The telegrams arrived with dread,
A list of names, the newly dead.

And every village, every town,
A cenotaph stands, bearing names down.
Silent stone, a tearful plea,
For fathers lost, for you and me.
A generation's price, so steep,
While widows weep and children sleep.

The trains returned, but not with all,
Some came back broken, beyond recall.
Scars unseen, a haunted gaze,
Lost in the war's bewildering maze.
The limping step, the missing hand,
A heavy burden on the land.

And every village, every town,
A cenotaph stands, bearing names down.
Silent stone, a tearful plea,
For fathers lost, for you and me.
A generation's price, so steep,
While widows weep and children sleep.

The poppies bloom, a solemn sign,
A fragile beauty, so divine.
A whispered prayer, a fading light,
Remembering the endless fight.

The cenotaphs remain, a constant ache,
A generation's curse, for goodness sake.
Their sacrifice, a debt we owe,
May peace prevail, and seeds of hope grow.

My maternal grandmother connected me to all of these individuals who lost their lives in World War I.

Rifleman Arthur Pye - 1st cousin 2 x removed
Rifleman Fred Pye - 1st cousin 2 x removed
Private Henry Pye - 1st cousin 2 x removed
Private John William Fillingham - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Quartermaster Sergeant Robert Slater - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Bugler Ernest Edward Morgan - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Private John Gourlay - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Rifleman Samuel Critchley - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Private Henry Gornall - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Trooper John Wilson - 2nd cousin 2 x removed
Gunner Moses Tinsley - 2nd cousin 3 x removed
Private Samuel Mercer Shaw - 2nd cousin 3 x removed
Corporal William Lawrence Henderson - 2nd cousin 3 x removed
Rifleman James Critchley - 2nd cousin 3 x removed
Corporal John Tebb - 3rd cousin 1 x removed
Private Thomas Boyers - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Lance Corporal James Critchley - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private David Critchley - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private William Arthur Critchley - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private John Joseph Critchley - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Serjeant Peter Critchley - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private Charles Mercer - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private William Wroe - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Serjeant John Peel - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private Thomas Edward Gabitas - 3rd cousin 2 x removed
Private Thomas Beesley - 3rd cousin 3 x removed
Private Edley Flewitt - 3rd cousin 3 x removed
Private Nobel Waterworth - 4th cousin 1 x removed
Private Williiam Benyon - 4th cousin 1 x removed
Private Thomas Tunstall Stringman MM - 4th cousin 2 x removed
Private Alfred Waterworth - 5th cousin
Private Frank Derbyshire - 6th cousin 1 x removed
Private Edward Green - 6th cousin 1 x removed
Lance Corporal Thomas Fillingham - 7th cousin 2 x removed

Dave, do you have a Harry Critchley, Royal Engineers, in your tree?

No. He isn't on SHROH, either.