THE granddaughter of a Border Regiment groom who served on the Somme 100 years ago has shared treasured family documents with The Westmorland Gazette.

After reading last week's Gazette feature about the centenary, Carol Metcalfe decided to bring in the fragile paperwork, which includes a handwritten tribute to Lt-Col Percy Machell, commanding officer of the Lonsdales. He died on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Carol believes that it may have been his eulogy, and it was carefully copied down word-for-word by her grandfather, Charlie Ellwood, on lined notepaper. "He must have felt he wanted to write it down and keep it," she said.

Charlie, of Windermere, was groom to Lt-Col Percy Machell and felt great respect for his commanding officer, said Carol.

The verse is attributed to R.D. Rawnsley and describes the sorrow felt at Lt-Col Machell's death with the words: "And Eden mourns and with her mourns the Nile". The commanding officer's home was in Eden, at Crackenthorpe Hall near Appleby, and he had also served in Egypt.

Carol told the Gazette she would like to pass the handwritten paper on to any surviving members of the Machell family. For years it was carefully stored in a drawer by her mother, Winifred, and now Carol keeps it safe in a box file with precious documents such as her grandfather Charlie's discharge papers. They include a reference which praises his "cheerful manner" and states that "the turn out of the horses in his charge has earned a reputation in the Battalion for pride in his work and a treasure to his employer".

Private Ellwood served with the Border Regiment from September 1914 to February 1919, as rifleman and then groom. He was married to Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, and they had three children, Betty, Winifred and Jack.

After the war, Charlie worked on the farm at Matson Ground for Francis Scott.

Carol was just three when her grandfather died. "I feel in awe of him, all of them, for what they went through," she said of the men who fought in the First World War.