Client Profile: Terry Whenham

By Ally Oliver

The Northamptonshire home of Terry Whenham has a garden office brimming with memorabilia and history books, the main focus of which is the two World Wars.

This isn’t just a hobby for Terry. Since retiring in 2021, his role as an amateur social historian come- tour guide has become almost a full-time job. His interest in the subject began when his dad told Terry as a young boy that his great uncle Henry Whenham had died in the Somme in 1916 at the age of 20 (see picture, right). There, a voyage of discovery started for young Terry, and finally, in 2001, he traced his great uncle’s First World War grave to Bouzincourt cemetery in northern France. Describing this as a ‘life-changing moment’, he says: ‘I was almost overcome with emotion on that cold April afternoon. When I signed the visitors’ book, I realised I was probably Henry’s first visitor since his death 85 years ago.’ It piqued an interest in the stories behind each of those fallen soldiers lying row upon row in the cemeteries of northern France and Belgium, and Terry has researched the histories of individual soldiers for many years, latterly taking people on tours to see their relatives’ graves from both conflicts.

He charges nothing for his services but asks for donations to the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) instead. ‘It’s a charity close to my heart, and I have been raising funds for soldiers, veterans and their families since 2014,’ he tells me. ‘My mum, Mary, also helps by knitting her wonderful poppies and selling them at the various events we attend up and down the country.’ As a family, they have so far raised £80,000 for the charity, and their fundraising continues.

I ask Terry, who is also a volunteer Since retiring, Attivo client Terry Whenham’s mission is to share stories of our fallen soldiers and raise thousands for charity museum, and he says he feels a kinship with those men who are laid to rest here, after sharing their stories so many times with the public. ‘The last surviving Tommy from the First World War, Harry Patch, died at the age of 111 in 2009. He was asked what he wanted his legacy to be, and he asked that we look after the soldiers of today. And that’s the real meaning for me – and the reason I raise money for the ABF charity,’ Terry says. There is a hard-backed book on Terry’s shelf, The Frontline Walk, which he proudly explains was edited by himself and a fellow tour guide, Steve Roberts. Inside are the stories of people who have participated in the Frontline Walk – a sponsored trek across the former battlefields of the Western Front. Terry was only the second person to sign up for the original walk in 2014, and he has since become an ambassador. The next walk is in October and is 100km across Normandy in this, the 80th anniversary year of D-Day. Anyone can join, and he urges people to sign up.

‘The book documents 50 people who have done the walk and why. Usually, it’s to follow in the footsteps of a particular soldier, but quite a lot of veterans do it because it helps with their PTSD. One guy had lost all hismates in one explosion. Doing the walk has helped him come to terms with it; walking, talking and being among people who feel the same way can be therapeutic for them.’

I ask Terry if hearing about all the lost young lives makes him feel down. ‘No,Terry and a group at the memorial to Major Richard Winters in Normandy, representing the brave soldiers who lost their lives during the D-Day landings Ryan Wright, Associate Director and Chartered Financial Planner, Attivo ‘I became Terry and Elaine’s wealth “General” in 2022 and we spent time devising a strategy to strengthen their financial fortress and free them from The Frontline Walk, edited by Steve Roberts and Terry Whenham. Unicorn Publishing.

Terry is a volunteer speaker for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. You can book a tour by visiting cwgc.org. Making a difference Terry does not accept payment for any of his services. Instead, he requests a donation to the Army Benevolent Fund. Terry’s mum, Mary, knits poppies for the charity, and between them, they have raised £80,000
so far.