old soldier

In December 1902, an old soldier, said to be mortally ill, cut his own throat on a street in Sawtelle and died a couple of weeks later.

One evening in the autumn of 1903, an old soldier strolling a Sawtelle street heard someone say the name “Russell.”

It was a big fuss he didn’t really expect, though the old soldier had tears in his eyes long before he caught sight of a cake decorated with a replica of his uniform and the medals he earned.

It was so commonplace that doctors even had a label for it, Old Soldier Syndrome.

"Farewell, old soldier. That's goodnight and goodbye to our beloved Bernard," Davies wrote on Instagram.