They had both been born in Burma

And for a time educated in Devon

Although Saki was older than my grandfather

They became friends in the years before the war

That was where the similarities ended

As my grandfather a giant of a man

Survived the war without major injury

Whereas Saki was shot by a German sniper

Whilst sheltering in a crater near Beaumont- Hamel

 When my grandfather died in 1970

He was buried in the Sussex town of Rye

Saki however has no known grave

Although he is commemorated

On the Thiepval Memorial

In Northern France