WHEN 12-year-old Charlie Lister started a school project on the First World War he never dreamed that he would write about a member of his family.

But the Year 8 pupil at Wycliffe Preparatory School in Stonehouse discovered that his great-great uncle was one of the 78 men from Wycliffe who fought in the Great War.

Head of history, Steve Arman, made the connection between Charlie, from Woodchester, and Edward Ashton Lister.

“There was a good chance that they were related so I did a bit of research and discovered that they were,” said Mr Arman. “They even share the same middle name. It made the project more special for Charlie.”

The Year 8 children are researching the lives of the Old Wycliffians who served in the Great War.

Their efforts will become part of a special project spearheaded by the Imperial War Museum. It has started an archive website – www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org – to upload details of as many service people as possible.

Charlie’s great great uncle Edward was in the Royal Flying Corps. He was 20 when he died while flying in France on July 4, 1915.

Brought up in Dursley, Eddie first enlisted with the 5th Gloucesters but then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He only served three months before his death.

Charlie researched Eddie and then wrote his paper as if he was in “Eddie’s shoes”. “It was interesting to write it as if I had been there and to understand what the war was like,” Charlie said.

Excerpt from Charlie’s piece on his great-great uncle:

“When the war broke out on August 4th 1914. I was so keen to join up but my mother didn’t want me to, she had already lost my father.

“Eventfully I persuaded my mother to let me sign up. Before I knew it I was out in France, the regiment that I was in was the Royal Flying Corps, I was only a private I was glad I was doing my part in the war.

On the second of July 1915 aged 20 I became the pilot that I have always dreamed to be. Before we knew it we were fighting shadows in the middle of the night and suddenly it was not all fun and games.

“Steve and I were concentrating so hard on escaping the battleship we did not notice our left wing was down, we started to go into a frantic dive and we were disorientated. As we said our last words we both knew we were going down."