YOU may recall that on October 22, Bolton-born actor Roger Morlidge told of how hundreds of Bolton soldiers were killed at the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele.

Mr Harry Price, of Hillbank Close, Bolton, tells me that his father James Albert Price (1899-1960) enlisted in the Army during the First World War.

The first time was on May 10, 1915, when he was only 15 years and 150 days old. After serving for 96 days, on August 13, he was discharged, "having made a mis-statement as to age".

He enlisted again on September 21, 1915, only to be discharged again on September 21, 1916, after serving for one year and a day, for exactly the same reason as before.

He then joined the Navy on September 22, 1917, served on three ships as a signalman. He was finally discharged from active service on February 11, 1919.

After reading the article about Passchendaele, Mr Price wondered if the 4/5 Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment which had taken part was in fact his father's battalion, and on looking it up found that his father's "first" service period was with the 3/5 Battalion of the LNLR, and his "second" service was with the 4/5 Battalion.

"As your article states that the 4/5 Battalion had eight months' training and several tours on the front line before the detailed battle of October 26," he writes, "it is reasonable to assume that my father was involved, and, had it not been for his discharge in 1916, he would have been in the big battle, and I would likely as not ever have been born."