Memories of Uncle Ernest 'Bob' Roberts

The contributor's father had a bookshop at Spaghetti Junction. He has done lots of research about Uncle Bob's war letter and then wife's family history. His wife's great-grandfather was the Mayor of Rye, William Frederic Jenkins, who was enlisted in World War I and received many commendations, which the contributor wishes to take to the Regimental Museum in Scotland.

His grandfather was born in Strasbourg and came to England before World War I to escape from conscription. There he married his grandmother and had six children. Uncle Bob was the first of these children. Uncle Bob changed his name from Schweikert and enlisted as Ernest (Bob) Roberts. He was involved in the Battle of Monte Cassino and was killed by friendly fire from the US; "Americans wiped out a lot of British soldiers", the contributor says.

Uncle Bob wrote letters and sent photos, certificates etc. to his parents, that is, the contributors' grandparents from 1943 to mid-1944. The contributor's Uncle Bill, Maurice Claude Rowberry, was also killed after the war by a bomb.