11-11-2017, 09:41 AM
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My Family, remembered today.
Some of my ancestors were farming stock from the West Country. Like many others from the farming community, two brothers from my Grandmother's side, and three brothers from my Grandfather's side all joined different Regiments in Gloucestershire. One of them didn't come home.Some of our family bought postcards and kept them as souvenirs, or sent them back home. When my Grandmother died we found a suitcase under her bed full of pictures, developed negatives, and a Postcard Album entitled, A Souvenir of the Great War.
Here are a few of them.
We tend to think of The Great War in terms of trench warfare, but a lot of fighting took place in and around towns and cities. Some of these images are very similar to the ones caused during the WW2 blitz.
Salonica - A Captured German Aeroplane.
(Possibly an LVG B series. If anyone can positively identify it I would be greatful.)
Tillaloy Chateau.
The nearby church.
"Venice Hospital after bombardment by the enemy."
Fargny Mill.
Louvain University.
My Grandfather was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. Fortunately he survived otherwise I wouldn't be here. Unfortunately he died when I was one and I have no memory of him.
It took a lot of men and a lot of kit to support each gun.
Sometimes the soldiers had pictures taken and turned into postcards.
My Great Uncle Sam, second from left. He survived, and I met him several times when I was a kid, but nobody ever spoke about the war so I had no idea what he had gone through.
The image is a perfect snapshot in time, captured for eternity. I feel very privileged to have it.
Sent to his sister, my Grandmother, back home in Gloucestershire. The stamp is postmarked the 19th of August 1916.
Written in pencil, it begins,
"What do you think of this dirty little throng, I guess we look serious, we had this took the day we come from the trenches ..."
My Great Uncle William.
In this picture he seems nervous, possibly taken before he shipped out aged 18, and was intimidated more by the camera rather than what was yet to come in battle.
In this picture he looks more confident, possibly taken whilst recovering in England from wounds. Experienced and battle hardened, he looks much older than his probable 19 years.
Joined up at 18, wounded at 19, killed at 20. He has no known grave but is remembered on a plaque on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Red for the blood that was spilled.
Black for the mourning of those left behind.
Green for the new growth on the fields of battle.
The leaf at eleven o'clock, symbolising the time when the guns fell silent.
11-11-2017, 10:20 AM
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Re: My Family, remembered today.
Very interesting Phil
the men seemed to look similar in those days .My grandfather survived the great war but with a chest condition caused by exposure to gas. He never talked about the war, he was a sullen man of few words and I wonder now if that might have been partly attributable to his wartime experiences.
His 23 year old brother Fred was in the Sherwood Foresters and died at Passchendaele, his body was never found. Fred was a lay preacher, in his breast pocket he carried a small bible in which was a photograph of his 6 year old nephew, my Father's younger brother. The bible was found in a shell hole and returned to the family.
11-11-2017, 10:33 AM
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Re: My Family, remembered today.
Thanks for sharing those Fruitcake. Whenever I see photographs such as these, I am also surprised at how mature they look for their ages. That's what war did to them I suppose. When I was 18, I was playing in a band, going to clubs and generally having a great time -all thanks to people like your ancestors.
11-11-2017, 12:45 PM
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Re: My Family, remembered today.
Originally Posted by Meg
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Very interesting Phil the men seemed to look similar in those days .My grandfather survived the great war but with a chest condition caused by exposure to gas. He never talked about the war, he was a sullen man of few words and I wonder now if that might have been partly attributable to his wartime experiences.
His 23 year old brother Fred was in the Sherwood Foresters and died at Passchendaele, his body was never found. Fred was a lay preacher, in his breast pocket he carried a small bible in which was a photograph of his 6 year old nephew, my Father's younger brother. The bible was found in a shell hole and returned to the family.
How nice that the bible was returned to the family.
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