LIEUTENANT FREDERICK BRISCOE
YORK AND LANCASTER REGIMENT
10TH MAY 1915 AGE 24
BURIED: YPRES TOWN CEMETERY EXTENSION, BELGIUM
The words on the telegram received by the next of kin were blunt and unambiguous: "Deeply regret to inform you that ... was killed in action on ...". It seems rather a strange inscription for Mrs Briscoe to have chosen for her only son, but in fact it says more than you think. To have been killed in action means that you must have been on active service, somewhere on the front line. And to have been on active service means that you must have been judged Grade A at your medical. Mrs Briscoe, a widow, was proud of her son, a brave man and a fine physical specimen; the blunt inscription 'killed in action' tells us all we need to know about her hopes and dreams.