The end of an era, the ruin of homes, the death of loved ones. But few could match the loss of three families devastated by a demands of war.

For the Smiths, the Souls and the Beecheys all had five sons die.

These stories mix sacrifice, hope, salvation and bitterness. But all are about loss.

As the name suggests, Poor House Yard was not in a good area of the County Durham town of Barnard Castle.

But John and Margaret Smith raised six sons there well enough for them to be fit to fight.

All enlisted in 1916 - long after any notion of a quick war had been stripped away.

But only their parents' worst fears would have hinted at what was to come.