Vintage Thingies Thursday

Postcards From The Past
It's VTT again so mosey on over to Suzanne's blog & you can follow the other VTT blog contributions.
Here are a few of the postcards my Grandad sent to Grandma during WW1. My sons have more & my Dad has more still of these.
Grandad was inducted into the Australian Army in 1915 [they had emigrated there from England in 1912] & shipped off to Egypt & then the foxholes of France.
He was a young man in his early twenties with a wife & two infant sons all of whom he missed terribly. I also have a small diary which my Grandma gave him before he left & his wallet & photos that he kept with him throughout his deployment.
He wrote poetry in the diary & some Arabic & French which would lead me to believe he was trying to learn a few words of these foreign languages, along with his duty postings & dates of shipping out, military movements etc. He also recorded names of fallen comrades & addresses so that he could visit their families when he returned to Australia.


To begin,here is a photo of Grandad in uniform......



Grandma & his two little sons.......


the two boys, my Dad on the right, uncle on left, my Grandma made all their beautiful clothing.
These are original photos, my Dad is now 98 yrs. old.......

some postcards........
the backs of those postcards......




"There's a girl I left behind me
The One the very Best,
Till I get back beside Her
I won't get any rest.
Two Darling Boys are with Her
Their Dad & Mother's joy,
Oh how I long to see them
No more to say Good Bye." Sgt. Frank Brooker, Aug.27th. 1916
Grandad's wallet & diary..........


his attempts at Arabic & French......
and the inscription from Grandma in the front of the diary.


A four generation photo of Gr.granny,Grandad,my Dad & me in 1943......

and one of Grandad, Dad, oldest son Andrew & me at our twins Baptism in 1968.

I love this collection of my family history & I enjoy browsing through these items from time to time.
Our oldest grandson [almost 14] recently studied WW1 at school & was fascinated to see his Great Great Grandad's military records & other documents & photos from that era. We documented 4 generations before him who have served their country in the military during wartime & peace, Gr.Gr Grandad, Australian Army,Gr. Grandad, Aus. Airforce, Grandfather[DH] US.Army, & his Dad our son, currently active duty US Army. He looked at me in awe & said " Grandmother, I am holding history in my hands, these are almost 100 years old, & no one else in my class has anything like this!" I was so happy to know how much it meant to him that these things have been preserved & to see how it actually brought history alive for him, that is SO valuable-what is it, "If we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it"!
He took copies of several documents & photos to add to his report for school & was pleased to get top marks for it!