Another Sunderlan' Lad - Billie Wilson's journey from Sunderland to the Somme via 'The Land of the Pharaohs'

Why did Billie join the army? He was a marine engineer, as was his older brother. Their father was a merchant navy captain.

Why did the army post him to Egypt? And then bring him back to France?

He was in the trenches barely two full months before being committed to the Somme.

Our speaker, Deryck, started his career as a typographic designer before becoming an art teacher and later an interior designer. Mid-career, he studied for an Open University degree in History & Art History. Later in life, he took a master’s degree in First World War Studies at Birmingham University.