There was to be no public display of emotion at the train station.

The Wharton brothers, Joe, Harry, and Ernie, strode off to war, grins etched on their faces. Out-of-step strides carried them through the cheers that echoed by.

Joe, the eldest of the brothers, his eyes never still, searched the crowd desperately for a glimpse of his girl Dulcie, where was she? whilst his mind replayed the sombre farewell scenes of home. The disconsolate look on his father's face, his mother's courage as she fought the tears, the urgent hugs from his sister Cissy.

The thuds of their regimented strides resounded eerily through the streets, swallowed up by the crowds, as the three marched off to war, and into history.