206442 Rfm. Francis Henry Oliver British Army 1/17th Btn. London Regiment from:London Frank Oliver was my Grandfather, he was a lewis gunner with the 17th Londons during the Great War. When my Father was a small child he asked him how many Germans he shot, to which Frank replied "I don't know. I couldn't see any. They were too far away. We were just ordered to shoot".
My sister recalls he often complained of an aching leg due to a shrapnel wound. He would then tell her how he was wounded. He was in the trenches in France and said that his best friend saved his life. Apparently his friend was standing in front of him when a bomb fell. His friend took the full force of the bomb and was blown to pieces, while he was just left with shrapnel in his leg.
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