A STORY in the Oxford Mail has helped to uncover a rare piece of military history.

Keith Stanmore contacted us after we reported that the names of two Oxfordshire soldiers who died in France during the First World War would be added to a war memorial there.

Private Walter Jacques and Lieutenant John Higgs were among 22 men from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars – also known as the Oxfordshire Yeomanry – who were fatally injured at the battle of Rifle Wood, near Amiens, on April 1, 1918.

Mr Stanmore has a special citation commending his late father Edward’s bravery during the battle, signed by Major-General Thomas Pitman, the commanding officer of the British 2nd Cavalry Division.

Military historians from the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, which is building a military museum for the county in Woodstock, are excited by the find. None of them has seen a similar document before.

Mr Stanmore, 81, from Millway Lane, Appleton, said his father had gone to war aged 17 with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, and later joined the Machine Gun Corps.

Describing the commendation card, he said: “It was found in the back of another picture that he had used, and my sister saved it and gave it to me.

“It’s only a little bit but I thought it was a courageous thing. I have had it some years now.

“It says on it that we can’t give out medals for everybody but his courageous behaviour has been recognised.”

Oxford Yeomanry Trust historian Mike Cross said: “It’s a pretty rare item.

“It’s a very fascinating thing, because none of the researchers I have spoken to have ever seen one before or know what it is.

“But it’s quite a big thing, as it is signed by Major- General Pitman. It obviously reflects some courageousness.”

Mr Stanmore said his father did not speak much about his wartime service before he died in 1952.

He said: “He told me that his mother gave him a little Bible and he kept it in his pocket. But otherwise nothing.”

Mr Cross said: “So many men did not talk about it, and my generation only thought about it when they had gone.”

After being asked about the citation, Mr Cross found out Edward Stanmore’s deeds had featured in a book by historian Lyn MacDonald.

Mr Cross said: “All of her books are interviews woven into a frame of true events. It is real men talking.”

To the Last Man: Spring 1918 was written using interviews with former soldiers, including Trooper Hector Ward, from Oxfordshire, who described his experiences during the action at Rifle Wood.

He said that he and Private Stanmore were the only machine gunners who reached the top of the wood after the Germans had been driven back by the British attack. They then held the position until reinforcements arrived.

The action was fought as British and French forces struggled to hold back the last major German offensive of the war.

Mr Cross said: “It is discoveries and connections like this that make our work worthwhile.”

The new plaque will be unveiled on the memorial at Rifle Wood at a ceremony on Sunday, May 23, which will be attended by members of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Regimental Association and the Soldiers of Oxfordshire.