THE family of a Brit World War 1 soldier have told how they found his long lost writings after 100 years while cleaning out their mum’s house.

Second Lieutenant Hamish Mann’s death in 1917 during the Battle of Arras left his family so devastated that they could barely talk about him.

His great-niece and great-nephew grew up knowing little about the man who died just after his 21st birthday on a French battlefield.

But an incredible discovery 100 years after his death has kept his memory alive — and will bring his writings from the frontline to a new generation.

By chance, his relatives Rosemary and Robert Stewart found a cherrywood box containing his moving accounts of life on the frontline in their mum’s house and, along with author Jacquie Buttriss, they’ve turned it into a book.

Jacquie explained: “When I saw it I was so impressed — I had never come across such a comprehensive collection of First World War writings, fresh from the trenches. And I just thought they were wonderful.”

Hamish, from Edinburgh, joined the Black Watch shortly after his 18th birthday when war broke out in 1914, despite having a heart condition.

All siblings Robert and Rosemary had to remember him by was a photo in their gran’s house — and the family always seemed reluctant to speak about their fallen relative, as many were after the war.

Robert, 66, said: “When Rosie and I were kids we used to stay with granny, Isabel Mann, in Edinburgh and we’d say, ‘Well, who is this person?’

"She was obviously very upset about it even then, which would be 1962 or 63.

“But nothing was ever forthcoming. It was simply he died in the war.”

It wasn’t until years later, when the siblings were clearing out their mum’s house in Peeblesshire, Scotland, following her move to a nursing home, they came across Hamish’s trunk.

Rosemary, 73, said: “We found few bits and pieces that were of great interest, the main one being the trunk with Hamish’s things it.”

With the house sale imminent, the pair were under pressure to clear the property — and were close to selling all the contents of the loft for just £150, despite one box they found being left unopened.

Dad-of-two Robert said: “On the last day I said, ‘yikes, we still haven’t dealt with that box’. So that was the moment critique.”

Rosemary, a music teacher in Edinburgh, opened the box to discover notebooks and letters belonging to their great-uncle Hamish Mann.

She took everything home and tried to make some sense of all the papers.

She said: “All the papers were mixed up so you might begin reading a poem and find it finished halfway.

"And the next piece of paper you came across was part of a funny play he’d written at school. I laid all out on the floor and for several months didn’t do much else.”

They turned to friend and writer Jacquie, who started researching Hamish’s background.

She discovered he’d been ill as a child suffering from an enlarged heart, also known as cardio myopathy.

The author said: “He was bedridden for a good year during which time he wrote about a hundred poems or so.

"He made good use of his bedridden time but it was very hard for him.”

Jacquie found out he’d worked for a repertory company as a teenager and performed on the Lyceum Stage in Edinburgh, where he also wrote a number of plays.

And an old copy of Stage Magazine revealed he’d been named one of their playwrights of the year aged just 17.

A year after he received the theatrical honour, war broke out.

Hamish — real name Alexander James — was 18 but his health condition meant he didn’t have to sign-up.

Instead, he lied on forms about his fitness, sought a second opinion from medics and went to war.

Rosemary said: “He always said he wasn’t so interested in being a soldier, but he was a patriot and always wanted to do his best for his country, so had this huge sense of duty.

"He had one consultant who failed him and said his heart wasn’t up to it. However, he tried again.

“I think the doctor on that day didn’t have the time to go into things in too much depth and he said, ‘this time I got by’."

After signing up, he was sent to Northern France in 1916, arriving first in the Somme before being stationed throughout the region, including billets at Gouy-Servins and Mingoval.

He wrote his last poem on the morning of April 6, after musing about his fallen friends and wondering if he’d be next.

Three days later his battalion marched to Arras, their objective was to capture the enemy’s front line.

But Hamish was hit full force by a German shell and he died on the battlefield.

The book has brought together Hamish’s story along with his poetry penned from the heart of the conflict and his other works.

Jacquie added: “You feel you are there with him. And that is not always a good thing.

"But you do and it makes such a difference. And he was so young.”

Hamish’s family are so proud to have been abe to piece together his work and bring it to a new audience.

Rosemary said: “We all felt that it was our duty to honour him by doing something about all this writing.

"We’re so pleased and relieved people are showing an interest in the book.”

Robert, now based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and a retired purchasing manager, said: added: “He is one of millions of soldiers who died in that war and as a very young person I suppose I just always thought, well this is just another one.

“I say that not flippantly but how do you draw attention to one of millions of people who died in the war?

“However, he just had something else for the world to know.”

Muddy Trench: A Sniper’s Bullet: Hamish Mann, Black Watch, Officer-Poet, 1896-1917, by Jacquie Buttriss is out on hardback on November 30 priced £25