A WOMAN has opened her heart to share the war letters of her brave relative – who died a hero on the first day of the notorious Battle of the Somme.

On the 100th anniversary of the day now known as the bloodiest in the UK’s history, Barbara Graham, 77, has told how her late husband’s uncle John Westwood Fife Graham – known as “Westie” – wrote scores of emotional letters from the trenches in France, which have been stored in secret for a century.

Between July 1 and November 18, 1916, some 58,000 troops died – one third of those on the first day alone.

There were 57,470 British casualties on the first day of the battle and 19,240 of those were killed.

John “Westie” Graham, 19, from Cardross, was one of the British soldiers killed on the first day of the Somme near the town of Albert, France. His body was one of hundreds never found following the battle.

Barbara’s late husband David was Westie’s nephew and he kept his war letters, many of which he wrote to his brother, in his wooden cist, which is around 100 years old. David passed on stories about his beloved uncle to Barbara and their children – determined that Westie’s memory be kept alive.

Inside the cist are photographs of Westie before he went to war and letters that he wrote to his brother.

She said: “David was very interested in what happened to his father’s brother, especially because he was so young when he died.

“The cist itself was a wedding present to Thomas and Elizabeth, from my father and mother-in-law. Thomas kept everything in the cist as long as he lived and when he passed away it was passed down to my husband, David Graham, who was John’s nephew.

“David always wanted to keep Westie’s belongings safe because it meant so much to him and his father. He wanted to make sure that Westie was remembered.

“Everyone who fought in this war, including Westie, was so brave and in many cases so young. The poor boy never even got to live a life because it was taken from him when he was so young. He was only 19!

“Now it has been 100 years since the battle and I still tell people about Westie. I think that it is really important that the people who fought for our country are remembered.”

In 2002, Barbara, of Clydebank, and her sons contacted War Research History to trace whether or not Westie’s name was on a memorial or if he has some form of grave somewhere. They responded shortly after to say that he has been commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing near the town of Albert, Somme in France, where he was killed.

The Somme has become notorious in British history and it is a battle which is taught in schools across the UK because of how many lives were lost.

British historian and specialist in the First World War, David Stevenson, explained what went wrong on the first day of the Somme which led to the death of 20,000 men.

He said: “The essence of the problem with the Battle of the Somme was that the British preliminary bombardment failed to destroy the German defences. It did not cut the wire, destroy the German dugouts and their occupants or silence the German artillery. German field guns and machine guns caused most of the British casualties.

“The British were also attacking (in the north) uphill against the strongest portion of the German line in the Somme sector. The French in the south were much more successful and suffered fewer casualties, but their density of artillery was much higher.

“The British artillery bombardment was less intense than later in the war. It used too much shrapnel rather than high explosive. Up to 30 per cent of the shells were duds. The infantry tactics of walking forward in dense masses – used in some though not all sectors – were a contributory factor. Also important was the lack of surprise.

“My impression is that a lot will be done on July 1 – big ceremonies in France and Britain, saturation media coverage and a lot of ancillary events. It will be the biggest World War I commemoration in Britain since August 2014.

“It is also important to remember that although the Battle of the Somme was indeed a tragedy – as was the war as a whole – the Allies did achieve some of their objectives.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are due to visit the battlefield in France this July in remembrance of the Somme on its 100 year anniversary.