Each remembering a grandfather who fought in, and survived, the 1916 battle of the Somme on opposing sides, friends the Revd David Pickering, Moderator of the United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland and Pfarrer Martin Henninger, Minister of the Lutherkirche in Frankenthal, travelled to the Somme together and then wrote jointly to a future generation:
‘To our grandchildren in Britain and Germany, and wherever they may live:
‘Five years ago, we discovered that both our grandfathers fought in the battle of the Somme. David’s grandfather had left him a box with name-tag, horseshoe and German war biscuits. Martin’s had left an account of his time as a soldier and a box of letters to his wife. Interestingly, these men had the same Christian names: Frederick and Friedrich.