Horace Tysom was born in July 1895 in Luton.

In 1911 he is living at 6 Hibbert Street with his family. His father William George is 44 & is a self employed straw hat manufacturer working at home, with wife Mary 46, assisting him. Kate Elizabeth is 21 & a straw hat machinist, William 19 is a labourer in a foundry, Olive May 10 & 7 year old George Percy, are at school. Horace is 15 years old & is a boot repairer.

Horace left school at 14 years old & became a boot maker by trade. He was an active person, despite having had pneumonia as a young child, as he played football twice a week.

On 29th May 1915 Horace joined the 20th Battalion of the London Regiment, a territorial force with it's HQ in Blackheath. He was described as having a good character & fitness & 5 foot 3 inches tall.

The battalion saw action in The Battle of Aubers Ridge, The Battle of Festubert, The Battle of Loos and the Hohenzollern Redoubt. In 1916  he fought  at Vimy Ridge, and on The Somme in The Battle of Flers-Courcelette capturing High Wood. He also fought in The Battle of the Transloy Ridges in which the battalion captured Eaucourt l'Abbaye and the attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt.  In 1917 he  was  in action in The Battle of Messines, the Third Battles of Ypres and The Cambrai Operations where the battalion captured Bourlon Wood and fought against the German counter attacks.

In October 1916 he was wounded whilst fighting on the Somme. He was treated for a G S W to his left arm & right thigh & multiple shell wounds to his right thigh. He rejoined his unit the following month. In February 1917 his pension record also shows he was treated for scabies, the common parasitic complaint that many soldiers suffered from.

He was awarded the Military Medal in September 1918 for bravery & devotion to duty in the field.

On 15th October 1918 Horace was sent to Sobraon Military Hospital in Colchester after suffering for many months with dizziness, shortness of breath & pains in his left side. He was diagnosed with Infective Endocarditis ( inflammation of the heart). On the 5th November 1918 he was discharged from the Army & sent home for complete rest.

Sadly on the 16th December 1918 Horace died. He is buried in Crawley Green Cemetery.