Week 46 (Nov. 12-18) Wartime

Russell Nicholas Clark, WW2

This week the focus is 'Wartime' which seems fitting as we have just commemorated Remembrance Day.  As I have commented previously 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.

 

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.