A BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? seems to be inspiring the nation to explore its roots. One man who has been searching for clues to his ancestry is retired English teacher Martin Bates. He is now calling on the people of Knutsford to help

MAJOR Edward Yeld Bate survived one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.

The 40-year-old military chaplain salvaged a set of bagpipes from the muddy and bloody battlefield of the Somme in 1916 and later donated them to a school in Scotland.

But Martin Bates knows little else about his great uncle other than that he was born in Knutsford in 1876, died at 56 and is now buried in the churchyard at Marthall.

"It is possible that there are clues in the pages of the Knutsford Guardian," he said. "But what would really help would be to find other relatives who might have inherited papers."

Edward is believed to have served in the First World War trenches with Piper (Private) James Cleland Richardson, of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, who rallied the troops during the Battle of the Somme by playing the bagpipes.

The battle had been planned as a joint British and French operation.

When it ended on November 13 1916 - 136 days after it started - the British had suffered 420,000 casualties, the French 195,000 and the Germans about 650,000.

Philip Gibbs, one of the five journalists selected by the Government to become official war correspondents with the British Army, had watched the preparation for the major offensive at the Somme in July 1916.

"Never before, and I think never since, even in the Second World War, had so many guns been massed behind any battle front," he said.

"It was a rolling thunder of shell fire, and the earth vomited flame, and the sky was alight with bursting shells. It seemed as though nothing could live, not an ant, under that stupendous artillery storm. But Germans in their deep dugouts lived, and when our waves of men went over they were met by deadly machine-gun and mortar fire."

He went on: "Our men got nowhere on the first day. They had been mown down like grass by German machine-gunners who, after our barrage had lifted, rushed out to meet our men in the open. Many of the best battalions were almost annihilated, and our casualties were terrible."

A statue of Piper Richardson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross after his death, was recently unveiled at the regimental museum in Chilliwack in British Columbia.

According to The Vancouver Sun he rescued a wounded comrade, but then realised he had left his bagpipes behind and went back for them. He was never seen alive again.

According to the Canadian newspaper the two men fought together in the First World War trenches.

For after the Great War Edward, whose father is also buried at Marthall churchyard, donated a set of bagpipes to a school in Scotland where he was teaching.

"A parent of one of the pupils discovered that the bagpipes bore the tartan of the Canadian Scots and very probably were those played by Piper Richardson," said Mr Bates, 69.

His 96-year-old aunt had received letters from the Pipe Major of the Canadian Scots asking for any records that might show how he came by the bagpipes.

"She remembers Major Bate as a kind man who always slept in a tent in the garden when visiting the family," he said.

Mr Bates, a retired English teacher, may turn the story into a book, but first needs help from the people of Knutsford.

He knows that his ancestors worshipped at St Cross Church and had links to homes Park House and Beechwood, near Ollerton.

Edward's father William Alfred Bate died on April 5 1899 when he was 23.

According an obituary report - published in the Knutsford Guardian on April 8 1899 - the funeral procession began at the family home Beechwood, near Ollerton, and made its way through Toft Wood to Toft Parish Church.

After the service he was buried in Marthall churchyard.

Edward's body today lies in the same cemetery; his sister Jeanette Mary, who died in 1959, is buried at nearby Toft Parish Church.

"Her grave has an empty flower-holder suggesting it was visited more recently," said Mr Bates.

But Mr Bates knows little about the other siblings, except that most emigrated to Canada and died childless.

"I haven't been able to find anything about Edward's elder brother Frederick," said Mr Bates.

But he remains hopeful.

"What I am looking for is anyone who might remember the Bate family or their parents talking about them," he said.

He is unsure whether any descendants still live in the Knutsford area, but says it is clear that the family lived in Knutsford at least until after the 1901 census.

If you can help call Mr Bates on 07949 794369 or his brother Tony on 01929 471563.