William Nightingale was born in 1870 and in later life settled in Lancaster, where he married Annie Jane. Together they raised three children — Thomas, Charles, and Frederick — building a quiet family life rooted in the rhythms of northern England. When war came in 1914, William was already in his mid-forties — an age when most men might have felt their duty done. Yet he still stepped forward. Refusing to stand aside, he enlisted into the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort’s Own), joining the 23r

🌺 The Royal Marine who lied about his age to serve – The Story of Lance Corporal Frederick Ernest Gee Frederick was born on 14 October 1899 in Rochester, the son of John Thomas and Jane Elizabeth Gee, of 53 Cowper Road, Sittingbourne. He went to Holy Trinity School and later worked at the local paper mills. The Gee family was close, steady, and hardworking. But the war years brought heartbreak at home. In July 1916, Frederick’s little sister Doris, just nine years old, died from diphtheria — a