Michael Blood was 26 years old when he was shot in a German ambush on a country lane in Northern France. We believe he died alone a few days after the ambush, possibly tended by local French people, which would account for his being the only Commonwealth War Grave in the graveyard of the commune of Nesles-la-Gilberde, east of Paris.

He was an ordinary Irish man from Drogheda, Co. Louth in what is now the Republic of Ireland, but what was then 5 years away from becoming independent from Britain.

The action in which he was wounded, took place less than a month after the British Expeditionary Force landed in France so his was a short war.

The only reminder my family has of Michael's service to freedom from tyranny is the Christmas 1914 cigarette box sent to the troops by Queen Mary. Michael’s cigarette box was sent to his mother in Drogheda along with his 1914 Star and his death notice in 1919, followed by details of his grave in France by the then Imperial War Graves Commission.

As a footnote, 100 years later while living in France, I believe I was the first member of our extended family to visit Michael’s grave - a shining beacon standing alone in the graveyard of the Nesles-la-Gilberde commune. Our thanks go to the men and women of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who look after his grave and preserve his memory so well.