HERE are images of the heartbreaking poem home from a York soldier in the trenches of the First World War.

As reported in The Press on Saturday, Cpl Henry Skilbeck wrote home to friends in the city in 1918, and told them how much he looked forward to returning to York.

His niece, Betty Rochester, now 95, inherited the letter - written in rhyme by the former teacher - and has kept it for more than 40 years.

In the video above, she reads the full poem, while the images below include the typed poem.

Mrs Rochester said she was not certain whether the poem had been typed in the trenches, or hand-written and typed by the recipients - a Mr and Mrs Cooper who lived in Bishopthorpe.