Bernard Brookes sometimes had the opportunity to look round after cycling to Mass on Sundays. These are empty cartridge cases that he picked up, and the cross came from Ypres Cathedral. We presume that he got them inscribed.
His wife Nora gave these items to their daughter Clare when she and Margaret (another daughter) lived in Cheam. Una had his razor. One of their sons, Bobby, had everything else, while his son, Robert, got Bernard’s rifle.
The original notebooks are still in the keeping of Brookes family members.
In 2009, the page of German signatures that Bernard collected during the Christmas Truce was auctioned by Bonhams for £1,080, but we have no record of when it became separated from the rest of the documents and its present whereabouts is unknown.
A Signaller's War 