Tanya Britton has immersed herself in the task of writing down the details of how soldiers, sailors and other servicemen killed during the Great War gave their lives for their country.
She began her mammoth task following a five-year stint as the archivist at Uxbridge Library.
She said: “We used to get lots of people coming in asking for information about relatives who had died during the First World War and I quickly discovered that there were virtually no reference books that could answer their questions so I decided to try to produce them myself.”
That decision has resulted in her self-publishing 17 books to date - and she shows no sign of easing up as she widens out her task to include men from neighbouring areas.
Tanya, 64, from College Drive, Ruislip, also has personal reasons for wanting to learn more about the impact of the war because she had three great uncles who fought in the conflict.
She recalled that one - Jack Melhuish - was wounded early on in the fighting and lost an eye.
“He was invalided out of the army and he was waiting at a bus stop in Ealing, wearing civilian clothes, when a woman came up and gave him a white feather (a sign of cowardice) because of the strong feelings that every man who could should volunteer to take part.
“He took out his false eye and told her the original was lying somewhere on the battlefields of the Western Front – I don’t think she would have done that again!”
Tanya has used a wide variety of sources for her information including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Public Records Offices at Kew, The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families’ Association newsletters from 1914-1918, regimental histories and diaries, French and German reference books, school records – along with old copies of the Uxbridge Gazette.
Her efforts have covered a broad spectrum of local areas including Uxbridge, Ruislip and Eastcote, Hayes, Harlington and Cranford, Harefield, Yiewsley and West Drayton, Cowley and Ickenham.
Further afield, she has produced books that cover Greenford, Perivale and Southall and she is currently working on volumes that will focus on Acton, Ealing and Iver in South Bucks.
She said: “I’ve written 156 pages so far on Acton but I could really use some help because there is lots more research to work through.”
Most of the books that Tanya has produced have been donated to local libraries but she does also sell them to order at prices ranging from £3.75 to £12. Some can be purchased from the libraries, some from local history societies and some from Tanya directly.
If you would be interested in purchasing any of her volumes, or if you would like to offer your services to help, you can contact Tanya by email at tanyabritton@blueyonder.co.uk.
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