This is the story uncovered in the University of Leeds archives by five undergraduates researching the things that soldiers at the front missed about home. The students unearthed accounts written by Oldham in 1969, more than half a century after meeting his future wife.

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The ex-Leeds Grammar School boy, who served on the Western Front as a company commander in the 9th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, described how in 1917 he used his ability to speak German to save the life of a wounded enemy soldier.

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