This week is a good time to talk to older relatives about their memories of wartime and ancestors who served.
It’s a great time to jot down your own memories of relations and ancestors who served or lived through war(s).
I remember visiting my grandfather’s older brothers in my childhood and teens.
Uncles Ricky, Ru and Hendy all served in WWI and returned although none of them as the young healthy men they left Australia as. They all married but only Uncle Ru had children. Who will remember them if I don’t?
Uncle Ricky had spent so long in the sodden trenches of the Western Front that his legs had wizened up. He lived out his long life with a built up shoe and leg braces, and later a wheelchair. Very sad for a man who was such a good runner they sent him across battlefields delivering messages. My mother loved Uncle Ricky and made the quilt (above) to remember him by.
Uncle Ru was a telegraphist in the Navy and was invalided out after the loss of his finger tips due to all the tapping of the equipment.
Uncle Hendy was physically OK but ‘never quite right in the head’ was how they termed it back then. We now know it as PTSD. He was a real larrikin, and so much fun for us little kids, playing the spoons and blowing music through gum leaves.
You could bring your memories / story to share at our next Victoria and Tasmania Discussion circle meeting on Thursday 24 April at 7.30pm. Don’t forget to register on the website. Free, members only zoom event.
Who will you remember? How will you remember them?