A MAN has travelled to Europe to uncover stories of the young men from Weyhill who went to fight for their country in the First World War, documenting tales that would otherwise be lost to time.
Rod Eggington, 76, from Penton, attended Weyhill School during the 1950s and was "fascinated" by a board on the wall which documented the names of all the boys from the school who went to fight during the Great War.
Having tracked down the board, Rod compiled a list of names and, along with his wife Lois, followed the lives of these men to the battlefields of France and Belgium and even visited the graves of the local young men buried there.
Together, they discovered the stories of those men from Appleshaw, Clanville, Ramridge and Weyhill who attended the school and went to fight and die in the war.
READ MORE: First World War enthusiast to honour villages' heroes with remembrance trail
Rod has now written a book about his findings, which he is selling to raise money for the restoration of Weyhill Church.
Rod told the Advertiser: "I attended the school in the 1950s, on the wall was a board with all of the names of the boys who went to fight in the war.
"One day, this board just disappeared.
"Years on, I found someone who actually had it in their house, and I wrote down the names, and went to France and Belgium to visit all of the graves."
Rod explained how he had acquired "lots of little stories" and "got to know all about the lives of the young men."
He said: "There are a lot of stories, for example, one of a child who was killed when he fell down a well, and I was told that if I don't write it down, it will get lost."
Rod's book, The Boys of Weyhill School, will launch with a display at St. Michael and All Angels, Weyhill on Saturday, October 26 from 10am to 2.30pm.
The book also has stories from the villages covering those war years including The Weyhill Brewery, The Racing Stables, The Rothsay Hospital, Clanville and Ramridge Lodge and more.
The book is illustrated with more than 100 photos.
All profits from this book will go towards the improvements to Weyhill Church.
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