'The heartbreaking story behind my family's war medal - and it changed how I remember Remembrance Day'

Some are told around the dinner table, others whispered in quiet moments of reflection and sadly, there are all too many that have been lost to time buried beneath generations of silence. 

​They are tales of courage, sacrifice, friendship, heroism and those loved ones who tragically never returned back home.

These selflessly brave men and women over the years have paid the ultimate price in the face of conflict to fight for their King and country.

I can still remember the day I proudly took my great-great-great uncle’s First World War medal into school as part of my history lesson.

Snuggled carefully into a little presentation box, this medal marked the sacrifice of Oscar Stewart Long who lost his life at just 18 serving in Arras serving with the Lincolnshire Regiment.

This medal was more than just a name, it was a reminder of a life well loved and lost in our family. He was so determined to fight for his country that he even told a lie about his age to enrol in the military. 

Like many others, Oscar Long’s body was never recovered and his name takes pride of place on the wall of the cemetery in Arras alongside the scores of others who lay beneath the fields of France and Belgium.

A few years ago I made the trip to Arras to pay my respects to Oscar on behalf of my family to honour the spirit of his medal that I so proudly cherished as a child.

I know my beloved grandad would have wanted to hear all about the trip had he still been with us. 

Every Remembrance Day we pause to honour those who gave their lives in conflict. 

But to me it is more than laying a wreath, wearing a poppy or taking part in the two minute silence. 

It is about remembering those names, the faces in photographs and the families whose lives have been changed forever by war to ensure their stories live on for generations to come.