A COLLECTION of First World War memorabilia saved from a skip during a house clearance has been signed over to the Museum Of Military Medicine.

Derek Smith, 94, discovered medals, poetry, and photographs owned by his father from 1915, while moving house in Aldbourne.

Mr Smith was so intrigued that he researched each item online and pieced together his father’s early life.

He even heard the voice of a man that served alongside Sydney Smith during his service with the Royal Army Medicine Corps in Nieppe from 1915-1919.

Sid Smith was 25 when he joined the sanitary section of the Corps and was tasked with finding and maintaining clean water supplies for the troops.

His son said: “I’ve uncovered things I couldn’t believe, it was astonishing, it was spooky.

“Hearing a recording of a voice of someone whose picture I have was really special.”

Among the treasures were Sid’s Meritorious Service Medal, one of just 400 remaining and a pocket chess set, played with in the trenches.

Mr Smith said: “This set meant a lot to them. If you had someone to play with it would help with being there. When I asked my father where the other pieces were, he would say they were lost in the mud.

“One of the big enemies, other than the Germans, were the lice. The men had no change of clothing so they kept their clothes on as long as they’d stay on.

“My father never spoke about any of this, all these stories I have found through my own research. This tatty old poetry book could have been lost in the house clearance.”

Museum volunteer and First World War specialist Barbara Johnson said: “The sanitary company were the unsung heroes of the RAMC. They did all the dirty jobs.”

She visited Mr Smith at Aldbourne Nursing Home to begin signing over the artefacts to the Aldershot-based museum.