A SUDDEN change in the direction of the wind probably saved George Eldridge’s life in the First World War.

Like many servicemen, he spoke little about his wartime experiences, but gave his family enough detail to suggest he came close to death.

His grand-daughter Barbara Gibson writes: “His company was returning to England from Germany and I believe a truce had been called. However, the Germans tried to gas them. Fortunately, the wind changed direction and the Germans had a dose of their own medicine and our heroes arrived safely home to ‘Dear Old Blighty’. Was this an Act of God? I like to think so.”

When Mr Eldridge arrived at his home in Dorchester-on-Thames, his first act was to stand outside, strip off his clothes and march naked to the bathroom for a wash. The clothes were burned.

Mrs Gibson, of Cedar Drive, Bicester, recalls: “My grandmother Rose was overjoyed he had come home unscathed.”

She knows nothing more of her grandfather’s war record – he never spoke about his regiment, his colleagues, where he served or where the incident with the gas occurred. But she remembers him as a kind, hard-working family man.

“He had a large garden, grew potatoes, other vegetables and fruit trees to feed his family of nine children – twins William Albert and Albert William, George, Frederick, Ernest, Ronald, Douglas, and two daughters, Rose and Nellie.

“I believe he worked at Didcot, possibly for one of the military establishments. I think he walked to and from work – he didn’t have a car, but he may have had a bike.

“He was a kind father and grandfather. I never heard him utter a bad word.

“Some evenings, he would visit his local pub, the Farmer’s Man, often accompanied by one or two sons. “In those days, the fashion seemed to be for men to wear black caps and white silk scarves. Often they would go wearing them.

“My mother, Violet, who married Ernest, sometimes went with them, but sat just inside the door. I don’t think she believed in pubs.”

Mrs Gibson also recalls another family member in the Dorchester cottage – a great grandmother called Isobella. “She was upstairs bedridden and as a three-year-old, I never saw her.”

* Any more First World War memories to share with readers? Write and let me know.