麻豆社

The "Famous Fifty" were the first of the August 1914 volunteers from the Coalville area to go to set foot in France and fight on the Western Front.

They marched off from St John the Baptist Church in Hugglescote to the train station in Coalville, with thousands lining the streets to wave them off and singing songs in a show of patriotic fervour.

But only 22 of them returned - many of them were used as tunnellers and some were entombed at Vimy Ridge.

Of those who returned home, many had been gassed and injured, and were left to face the grim reality of a very different kind of life.

Location: St John the Baptist Church, Hugglescote, Leicestershire LE67 2BQ
Image of Famous Fifty, courtesy of Michael Kendrick