The Big Battlefield Bike Ride is back for 2022, so in June I will be taking on the challenge of cycling to the Somme to raise money for Help for Heroes and to honour by Grandfather Frank(whose story you can read below and the reason I registered for the event in 2020!)

Frank's story

At the age of 10, my Grandfather Frank was sent to the Duke
of York’s military school following the early death of his father. From there, Frank was sent to Dublin to be trained as an Army school teacher.

Twenty years after starting his teaching career and at the age of 40, WO1 Frank Smith along with thousands of others found himself standing on the beach at Dunkirk staring at the sea that divided him from safety. 

He had been a cipher operator for Lt. Col (Later Field Marshall) Gerald Templer and had been living off the land during the retreat to the beaches. After destroying his cipher equipment and throwing it as far as he could into the sea, he was left waiting for rescue.

Fortunately, Frank had always been a keen sportsman, playing
hockey, cricket, boxing and vitally swimming! Despite the danger, Frank tied his boots around his neck, entered the sea and swam half a mile offshore to a waiting destroyer.

On that day in May 1940, Frank showed the courage, determination and resilience that were and still are core values of the British Army. The bravery displayed then is identical to the bravery displayed every day by those who serve to protect this nation and, particularly, by those who are wounded or injured in pursuit of their service.

I’m equally proud of the strength of character displayed by my Grandfather all those decades ago as that displayed by our wounded service personnel every single day. I am cycling to the Somme to honour the memory of Frank's courage and to raise money to ensure that we honour the courage of those who continue to serve.