YEAR 9 pupils at St Mary's High School, Blackpool, have recently been learning about World War II and as homework were asked to find people who had personal experiences to fill out a questionnaire, writes Lianne Myers aged 14.

I had no-one in my family who could assist me, so I decided to take a trip to Blesma (British Limbless Ex-Serviceman's Association) in South Shore.

I was a little apprehensive about speaking to the residents in the home, but they were all so friendly I was soon at ease.

The nurse led me to one of the residents called Sam who had been actively involved in the war.

Sam served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery for a year when he was shot in battle.

Doctors were pessimistic about his chances of survival after Sam was in a coma for two weeks.

But eventually Sam regained consciousness and even though he lost both legs he made progress each day.

I found this experience of meeting an ex-serviceman very moving and interesting and it certainly helped keep history alive for me.

I felt lucky meeting Sam and thank him for sharing his memories with me.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.