STUDENT sleuths from Wycliffe Preparatory School have uncovered the story of how a former pupil died on the battlefield in the First World War.

Ronald James Tratt died on the first day of the Battle of Loos 100 years ago.

One of Ronald’s relatives – his great nephew Hugh Davies – visited the school to meet the group of Year 8 pupils and hear about what they had discovered.

Much of the information was new to Mr Davies, who attended a special service in the chapel and was deeply moved by what he heard.

“The children knew more about my great uncle than I did,” he said.

“No one has ever wanted to know about him before so it was delightful. The children helped me feel closer and more connected to him, I stood in the same chapel he stood in. The service they held was beautiful and very emotional.

“What the soldiers went through was ghastly and the children really tried to get that across. They gave me a book with all their research in and the first picture is the one my grandmother had on her wall.

“Ron’s death devastated my family. His mother, my great grandmother, wore black until she died.”

It transpired that Ronald came from a wealthy family which owned the Tratt & Williamson textile company in Stroud which was based at what is now Hill Paul.

He was sent to the frontline after joining the 7th Northamptonshire Regiment and marched for two days without sleep before he was shot and killed.

The children also researched another soldier who attended Wycliffe called Leonard Norton Gammidge.

They discovered that both soldiers were born in the same year, played on the same football team, moved to London to find work at the same time and died within days of each other, just six miles apart.

After doing their research, which included going through old school magazines, the pupils wrote their own stories and poems about the men.

Steve Arman, head of history at Wycliffe Prep, said: “All round it was a major success.

“We paid tribute to two fine young men and respect to the men who fought and died in WW1 and in wars generally.”