106: Private Robert Stewart (gift box; letters, photograph, medals, and death notice)

This gift box (given to soldiers by Princess Mary) belonged to my great uncle, Robert Stewart. He served in the King's Own Scottish Borders and was killed in 1916. He was buried near the causality clearing station.

The box once sat in my grandmother's house. I remember her taking it out as a child. My mother could not remember him, but she did recall her mother taking the box out from time to time; she would be told to wash her hands before she was allowed to touch it - so that it would be kept safe. The box contains a small pencil, a pocket bible, a medal, a framed memorial photograph of my great uncle, along with 2 official letters on his death.

As my grandmother could not afford to visit his grave in France, I was the first family member to visit. Though I didn't know him, it was a very emotional experience. It was a small cemetery, I placed a small cross on his grave. When my grandmother died, the box and its contents were passed to her grandson, my son.