BARNARD CASTLE, England (AP) – Carved into the simple obelisk commemorating the fallen are the names of five sons of Margaret and John McDowell Smith. There’s a story behind the name that isn’t there – a sixth brother, Wilfred – and a century after World War I a local historian has dug out the details from archives.
Wilfred Smith’s survival is a story of sacrifice amid a war that demanded so much of it from virtually every family in Britain.
Because long before there was the fictional tale of “Saving Private Ryan,” there was the real-life story of saving Pvt. Smith.
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The people of Barnard Castle have long known the story of the Smith brothers and that Wilfred, or Willie as he was known, survived.