JOHN Roberts was the most unlikely war hero. A retired agricultural worker in his 80s, he was enjoying spending his twilight years on his son’s farm in Witheridge when the Great War broke out.

A father of 15 children with almost 100 grandchildren, he could not have imagined in 1914 the devastating impact it would have on his family.

He was a proud man as many of his grandsons volunteered to fight for King and country in France, Belgium, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, Palestine and Egypt.

In all 30 went to war. Seven never made it home.

The tragic losses endured by John and his family were among the worst suffered in the United Kingdom. Their selfless contribution to the war effort was nothing short of remarkable, perhaps unrivalled.

John, who worked on farms in his home county for more than seven decades, may well have had more grandsons serving in the Army and Navy than anyone else in Devon and beyond.

His astonishing story – is told for the first time in a new book, "History Maker: John Roberts – the man with 30 grandsons in the Great War". Lifting a "forgotten" man from the shadows of history, and revealing how his grandsons faced life and death on the front line, it would never have been written but for the chance finding of an old newspaper picture 10 years ago.

Paul Roberts, the author, said: "When I discovered the grainy old image of John on a village history archive, I didn’t know who he was. But he shared my surname.

"And, with his bushy sideburns, beard and broad smile, he reminded me so much of my father. A caption beneath the image astounded me. It said that John had 30 grandsons serving King and country in the Great War.

"It inspired me to find out more about him and his family. And the truth could not have been more remarkable. For John turned out to be my great-great-grandfather."

John was a widower in his 80s and living with one of his sons at Newland Farm, Witheridge when war broke out in 1914.

He was justifiably proud as his grandsons volunteered to fight for King and country. But the war took a terrible toll on his family.

Three were killed on the battlefields of France. Three died from wounds sustained in action, and one succumbed to heart disease.

A teenager from Witheridge, Albert Roberts, and two sets of brothers from Rackenford and Tiverton were among those who died.

The survivors included Albert’s brother, Frank, who was shot in the head in Palestine in 1917 – and Archie Roberts, of Thorverton, who took part in two of the greatest cavalry charges in history.

Paul continued: "My grandfather, George Burnett Roberts, was one of the 30. He joined the Army Service Corps in France when he was 17.

"He also survived, living for many years at Newton St Cyres where he worked as head cowman and farm bailiff at Home Farm.

"The first of John Roberts’ family to die in the war, in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, was his great nephew, Sgt William James Roberts, of the 1st Coldstream Guards, who is remembered on Morchard Bishop War Memorial.

"When he went to war, his family were living on the outskirts of the village, at Farthing Park farm – where I was later born and raised.

"John Roberts, born in Cruwys Morchard in 1829, died aged 90 in 1919, just a few months after the war ended."

The book, which took a decade to research and write, also puts the spotlight on:

• The enormity of the sacrifices made during the war by families in Devon who had up to nine sons serving

• The controversy that raged as farmers and their sons became caught up in a bitter and divisive war of words at home over recruitment to the Armed Forces

• And how Devon paid a magnificent tribute to its fallen heroes.

"History Maker: John Roberts – the man with 30 grandsons in the Great War", will be published next month.

The book will be available in local shops – and the National Archives Book Shop, and is priced at £9.99 (ISBN 978-1-5272-1546-7).

Paul will be doing a series of talks about the book in Devon in 2018. The first two take place in February, in Witheridge and Thorverton.

Proceeds from the book will be donated to St Margaret’s Hospice in Taunton and Yeovil, in memory of Paul’s wife, Jennifer.

Alan Quick