Week 21 (May 21-27) Military

Russell Nicholas Clark, WW2

The prompt for Week 21 is 'Military'.  My family was extremely lucky, in both world wars and other conflicts, to have most of those who served not only come home, but come home fairly unscathed.  Once second cousin was killed in France in World War 1 ; one uncle died in the Merchant Navy in World War 2.  All the other relatives who served – my father, uncles and great-uncles and more recently several cousins - returned safely to their loved ones.  While they all had to live with the memories of the conflicts, they were mostly uninjured by their experiences and able to rebuild their civilian lives.  

So many others were not so fortunate.  Numerous Australian families endured the loss of loved ones on foreign soil, the arrival of the dreaded telegram, or the return of family members forever scarred by their service.  So many who returned faced a lifetime of ruined health or years of recovery and rehabilitation, and ongoing trauma from their wartime experiences.  My family has been lucky indeed.

 

Leonard Clark, WW2

My father, after attempting to enlist underage and being caught and sent home, served as ground crew in the Air Force in the latter stage of World War 2.  Stationed in Darwin for much of his active service, he always regretted that he never made it out of Australia and always refused to march in ANZAC Day or Remembrance parades.  At the end of his service he was stationed in Sydney helping unload POWs returning home from Japan, an experience he would never talk about.

 

ANZAC has very much become a part of our national vocabulary.  Many of the people who lived though that campaign were ordinary volunteers, just as Australia’s current veterans are ordinary volunteers.  They put their daily lives on hold to serve and protect us all, most with very little clear idea of just what they were volunteering for.  Even as a young child I was taught the significance of ANZAC Day, attended services, and spent my pocket money on ANZAC Day badges, many of which I have in a container at home, which I still add to annually.

Ernest Green, WW2 postcard from Egypt

Through the National Archives of Australia I have downloaded several family military records -  the NAA has indexed and digitised Boer War and World War 1 and 2 dossiers, which you can search and view online for free.  Other websites include Discovering Anzacs which allows you to add your stories and images, and the Australian War Memorial, which has databases like the WW1 Embarkation Rolls and WW1 Red Cross files.  Researching  newspaper reports in Trove has also been a gold mine, with reports of enlistments, farewells, news from the front, even letters home published in local papers.