From Mrs J. Forrester, Ryde:

Great Uncle Tom

There he sits on the staircase wall,

There he is surrounded by us all,

Photos of holidays and smiling faces,

Pictures of weddings and different places,

The freedom we have we owe to those like him,

Who never came back to kith and kin,

At the table an empty place,

Oh, how they must have missed his face,

No one whistling through the gate,

No one shouting ‘how you doing mate’,

And so we remember what he gave, and what he went through.

To give freedom to me and freedom to you.