I think it might be interesting to learn a
bit more about each other on this forum.
All of us have our own stories -
that reflect the diverse character of this country.

I recently read a post from Is Mise - about what
life was like for the people of Dorset in the past.
I found it very moving. It gave me the idea for
this discussion. I enjoy learning about the
experiences of other people.

Sharing our stories might help us to understand each
other better.

I look forward to your input.

Foxy,
This should be interesting.
I can trace my line back to BC times, if the genealogies can trusted, unfortunately some prominent ancestors had a propensity for ‘gilding the lily’ and making themselves appear more important or to else to back up claims to estates or to titles.
The proverbial grain(s) of salt should be kept at hand!!

The thing to always remember is that family trees are like peanut bushes, the best bits are under the ground

Is Mise,

Thanks for that. I was hoping to hear more detail
about where you were born and your English/Irish
ancestry. Where your genes came from. Any stories to
tell. What part of England was your home - and so on.

cont'd ...

My ancestry is predominantly Lithuanian - on my
father's side. Russian on my mum's. Grandad -
a Lithuanian was in the Tsar's army. He met my
gran - and they married in St. Petersburg and
moved to Lithuania. Mum was born in Lithuania
where she grew up and lived until World War II.

Of course World War II changed their lives.
My parents along with my mum's parents managed
to flee the Stalinist terror and eventually they
found themselves in the International Refugee
Organisation's camps in Germany.

They joined the first wave of displaced Baltic
(Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian) people who were
invited by then Labor Prime Minister Arthur
Calwell to come and settle in Australia to help
solve the acute labour shortage at the time.

My parents like so many refugees at the time had to
sign 2 year contracts with the government and had to go
wherever they were sent. These were difficult times
for everybody. But at least they were in a country where
they were able to build a life for themselves.

I was born in Bathurst NSW.

tbc.

I grew up in Sydney but I have roots in the
country. From Bathurst, to Windsor, the
Hawkesbury, the Hunter, Wagga Wagga, Albury,
Wodonga.

I loved the early days growing up. The early
days in Wentworthville/Parramatta.. I am
proud of Macarthur Girls'High School and the
University of NSW. I loved supporting the
theatre and the Arts. To me it was as vital
as breathing. I firmly believe that the
present is linked to the past.

That's why it is important that we pass on our
histories to our children - and grand-children.

Mum was an orphan, raised by a grand mother on her mothers side. Mum's sister, my maiden aunt, traced their linage back to a Lord Aldred, reputedly King Arthur's sea lord. As it appears King Arthur may be a myth, I don't place too much store in that. I never met any of them, other than the aunt.

Dads father came out from England as aide de camp for a Governor General in early 1900s, I have no idea which one. The grand father lost his money during the depression, & raised 7 kids as a bike painter.

Mum chased dad all round Oz during the war, & I reckon she would have chased him to PNG & the Solomons if she could have. I actually have memories of us sailing from Sydney to Townsville in a war time convoy, protected by war ships, probably a couple of little corvettes & air patrols.

I went to school in Ipswitch, Amberley, Brisbane, Townsville [twice & 3 schools], Sydney, Bathurst & Young. Young was 4 years, the only place longer that 15 months. I became a pretty good fighter, as the new kid was always picked by the bully, & a pretty good cricketer, & footballer as the easiest way to break into a new school is to play in the school teams.

Unlike you Foxy, I have no contact with any relatives or school friends. My friends come from my motor racing, sailing, & show jumping days, & all too many of them are falling off the perch these days

Dear Hasbeen,

Thank you for sharing.

Goodness me - if we think life is hard now - back
in those days it must have been even more so.
Our families faced terrible tragedies and
heartache. They must have faced things that might
seem impossible to overcome. Yet they overcame them.

That's what has added to making us more
resilient.

Celebrating family traditions, embracing our culture
and understanding where we came from certainly can
open our eyes. It makes me count my blessings daily.

Again, Thank You.

Hi Foxy,

My most interesting ancestor is my Great Great Grandmother on my mothers side CONSTANCE LOUISA (COURONNE) TRUDGETT. Born a slave on the island of Mauritius in 1824 of Creole blood, African/Indian? Convicted of attempted murder at the age of 8, transported to New South Wales for life, an assigned servant, a free woman, a successful pastoralist. The property 'Gum Flat' she established in 1847 with her convict husband is still in my family over 170 years later. I have read all there is about my ancestors trial and what then past for British justice, it was a shocker. The lady accuser didn't even appear in court to give evidence, she sent a statement. There was no cross-examination at all. There was no real representation for the girls, other than the court people.

http://www.facebook.com/1547684265508926/posts/window-on-womenconstance-couronne-trudgett-from-slave-to-respected-pioneerconsta/2298536400423705/

Dear Paul,

What a truly amazing character your ancestor
Constance Louisa Couronne Trudgett must have
been. And what a fascinating story of her life.
It surely must give you a sense of pride and
a sense of belonging a boost. Increasing your
happiness that your ancestry was so resilient.

No wonder you are so understanding and you can
connect so well with others. Family histories can
have amazing effects. They allow us to connect
with people in the past - I was so glad to read
that despite the hardship she did end up having a
fulfilling life. And was much loved and highly
respected.

Hi again Foxy,

For my wife's people tupuna (Ancestry) and knowing your whakapapa (genealogy) is most important. If you get up to speak in the Marae you first introduce yourself by addressing your tupuna and your whakapapa, offering words of respect for the ancestors, for many the ancestors are staring down at them from the 100's of pictures that adorn the walls. Te Aroha has many Chiefs and Paramount Chiefs in her line, she can trace them back to before the time of Cook. My wife's last Paramount Chief passed in the 1930's and for some reason the Kaumatua's (elder males) sitting in judgement refused to acknowledge his successor then, and they have not had a Paramount Chief since. Maybe he didn't understand the tribes protocols correctly, or some action of his had made him unworthy, don't know.

Dear Paul,

Give my love to Te. She sounds like a lovely lady.
And her ancestry is fascinating. I wish that you would
write a book on all this history. I for one would buy
it.

Hi Foxy,

Family history can be fascinating, my cousin has done and extreme amount of digging into our family history. From my ancestor Constance Couronne, her pic is in the link, you can see her skin was very dark, she had 11 children all living to adulthood, a feat in those days on its own. In those times it seems women of mixed blood had no problem marrying white men, but the males with their "aboriginal" features married aboriginal or part aboriginal women. My Great Grandmother was an exception, from her pic she was a very beautiful woman, yet she married a part Aboriginal man. For many in the family, including my mother, that was unacceptable

cont

My family background:

On my mother's side. Her father was a USian who came to Australia as a merchant seaman. His background was a combination of Irish and Hungarian Jew who have fled to the US during the 1840's pogroms. My maternal grandmother's family had come to Australia from Ireland in the late 19th century and settled around Maitland. Interestingly, the Irish on that side lived in a village that was a mere 20 miles from the village my maternal grandfather's family came from. So after being neighbours, one group went to the US, one to Australia and were then re-united a century later in my grandparents.

On my father's side, we had a combination of Irish and Spanish. The Irish ancestors came here around 1820 and settled in Cooma. Unfortunately, not convicts, just free settlers. It seems the elder brother came first and convinced two more brothers to come out and farm. Around 1850 one brother married a Spanish women who we assume was a mail-order bride. I'm still trying to track that side down - records aren't great. Things get a little murky around 1880 when, it seems, my great-great grandfather divorced and then married his sister-in-law and then his divorced wife married another brother. Tracking who was actually descended from who gets messy.

So mainly Irish, some Welsh, a pinch of Spanish and a smattering of Hungarian Jew. I'm currently concentrating on the Hungarian side to try to nail down their background. It seems they came to Hungry via Russia.

cont

Constance mother Adel had her when she was 16, being her second child, her father was either her plantation owner or the husband of the woman who later accused her of attempted murder, or even a third unknown person they were all Frenchmen in their late 40's, early 50'. According to an uncle, another slave, the second Frenchman had a particular liking for Adel and was the father of Constance. Mauritius had been a French colony but ceded to the British after the Napoleonic war. Slave owners and their male friends constantly raped slave girls as young as 10 years old. It was common practice for a slave owner to invite a male guest to "inspect" his property, particularly the young slave girls, as many times as he liked. Any offspring from those inspections were a bonus for the slave owner, this practice was common knowledge, but never spoken of by white women. It is believed, at least by my cousin, that the second Frenchman had developed a keen interest in both Constance (8) and her cousin Elizabeth (12) and was borrowing them as house servants too often for the liking of his wife, thus the attempted murder charge. In her statement she said "The girls served me tea with a bitter taste and I was poorly for three days, before I had doctor attend me." then she recovered. That's enough to get two very young slave girls transported for life. BTW cousin Elizabeth died in her 50's in The Rocks of Sydney living in abject poverty. It seems their owner was very angary that such chargers had been brought, and was eventually compensated for his loss.

Dear Paul,

What an amazing background you've got.
Reading your posts was fascinating. No
wonder you are the person that you are today.
Truly amazing.

Dear mhaze,

Gosh there's so much more to you than I would have
ever guessed. Wow! Thank You for sharing.

My grandmothe's people came from a small village near
the river Viga in Russia. Mum told me that were
merchants who made mocassins out of fur. I
remember that she was an excellent seamstress and
very beautiful. Grandfather adored her. I remember the
old songs she used to sing. She died at a young age
near Cessnock in NSW.

Paul1405,
Yes, your ancestors had it rough in the extreme. Mine did it tough too but nowhere near as bad.
That's one evil trait the European power mongers learnt rather quickly to adopt from the Arabs.

Speaking about ancestry - something I'll share with you all, though somewhat crude? In company with another detective, we were in the process of interviewing our prize suspect, our only and strongest suspect.

I put to him a series of questions and one of which must've hit the mark! He arose from the table very angrily and attempted to tip it over in the process and yelled at me with spittle spraying from his mouth and said, '...you Mr.....are nothing but a * and you were not born of a woman's womb but came out of the arse of a dog...'!

So as you all can see, I have a fascinating ancestry (pedigree), part Cattle or Kelpie Dog, or perhaps German Shepherd, even Labrador, or a mix of 'em all...?

Dear O Sung Wu,

You've got the traits of a German Schnauzer - intelligent,
affectionate, loyal, alert, good natured, and
good-looking.

Nothing to sneeze at. Lots to love.

Hi there FOXY...

I'm not sure about all that? But it's very kind of you to say so. In my former profession, I've been called worse, and often. Unfortunately, very few of our former 'clients' were very well-spoken; thus, their vocabulary was appropriately limited to mainly cursing phases and profanities. It was a funny ol' job at times, I can tell you? Many thanks, FOXY and take good care of yourself, please.

My immediate ancestor my father did it terribly bad. He was wounded by bomb shrapnel that tore through his knee after it went straight through his mate's heart.
Dad ended up in Russian prison from which they got away into Czechoslovakia. He had just recovered after some weeks when he received news of his wife's death at childbirth. He was given one week's leave to bury his wife & arrange for his three little toddlers to be taken on by people in our village.
After WW2 he returned home with nothing but his torn uniform to children who didn't know him.
He managed to build a family home & retired at 65 & died at 74 of multiple cancers.
I was too young to appreciate what he had to endure.

Dear individual,

Your father certainly faced terrible tragedies and
heartache. Thank You for sharing your ancestry with
us. When we think life is hard now - we should
remember what it was like for our parents back then.
They faced things that might seem impossible to
overcome. But they overcame them. We owe them a
great deal - it allows us a sense of self-worth and
gives our belonging a boost. It increases our
happiness. And hopefully it makes us more reilient
and better human beings.

Reading your story I was deeply moved.
Thank You.

Hi there INDIVIDUAL...

I realize you probably didn't get to know your Dad as well as you should have due to his many medical afflictions and his premature passing at age just 74 years. But he sounds to me to be a very stoic, heroic sort of gentleman, the kind that made this country with determination and sheer hard work. I expect you're immensely proud of your Dad for the privations he had to endure, so you and your family had food on the table and a roof over your heads.

I believe you to be a chip off the old man's block, and he, in turn, would be as proud of you as you are of him, INDIVIDUAL.

Dear individual,

My mum gave birth to a baby boy during during the
war in Germany. He died of starvation. She wasn't
able to feed him as she couldn't produce any milk
due to not having enough to eat. She didn't talk
about it much. I've got two other brothers now,
but I still think how hard it must have been for
my parents during the war years.

Hi Indy and Foxy,

I don't think we appreciate how tough some of our relatives/ancestors had it, and what they went through. Could we survive such savagery ourselves? We don't know, and hopefully none of us or our children, or their children will never have to find that out.

My maternal grandmother had 13 children, only 8 made it to adulthood, 4 of the 5 who didn't died under 2 described by grandma as "born sickly". A 5 year old uncle died when he breathed dry corn into his lungs. According to Mum, he died a terrible death over several days at home out in the bush. Something that most likely today could be prevented with hospitalisation and proper treatment. My GG Aunty, who was transported with Constance died in the slums of Sydney from TB aged about 52. her story was one of failure, whilst my GG Grandmothers was a story of success due to a serious of what I would describe as lucky breaks. I think my GG Grandmothers story has given me an insight into life for the real battlers of 150-200 years ago.

All families have stories, here one of my most interesting;

My ancestors settled the Wellington Valley area of NSW around 1850, Their Run,'Gum Flat' was near the Nubrygyn Inn, many of my relatives are in the Nubrygyn Cemetery. Seems the inn did very good trade being on the road about halfway between Bathurst and Dubbo, and before the railway bypassed it in the 1880.

In April 1865 Ben Hall the bushranger and his gang held up the Nubrygyn Inn, not a quick hit and run, the gang "booked in" the Sunday and not wishing to leave until Monday morning. Stealing the Inns takings, 14 pounds, Ben then proceed to shout the "hostages" free drinks, as word got around the number of "hostages" grew until half the men of the district including many of my relatives were drinking freely within the Inn. The Monday morning readying to leave Ben then proceed to pay the publican William Brazier the remained of the 14 pounds for all the drinking. Unfortunately for Brazier, Hall also borrowed his finest horse, the best in the district, promising to return it in good condition. Two weeks later while holding up the gold coach at Eugowra Ben Hall was shot dead, and Brazier never got his horse back. The relatives only had a good word for Ben Hall, "a gentleman and a decent bloke" so its said.

According to Cuz, The hostages had a time wakening Ben and the gang next morning so they could make their getaway. The publican was not happy, in his opinion holding up banks and stage coaches was one thing, but holding up an inn, and drinking the contents was beyond the pale.

Dear Paul,

You really should write all this down.
If for no other person but a legacy for your
children and family. I kept asking my
father-in-law to write his experiences and
memories down for us. He did not get around to
it and now they're lost forever. What you know
should be shared. It lets people know about
different times and experiences.

Hi Foxy,

History is a fascinating subject, I devoured history books, and geography at school, easily my two favourite subjects. Other subjects were interesting and I enjoyed most of them as well, but not to the extent of H & G. I'm not a great reader of novels although I read a couple a year, but don't go particularly looking for them, my wife is a fiction addict. I never could see the worth in reading about non existent people. BTW, Brisbane has a most excellent BCCL, literally 10's of thousands of books etc spread over about 20 outlets, and all can be ordered online for quick delivery (If not on hold) to my local branch. BBTW we are going to a book fair this Saturday $5 a bag full.

P/s, where is Issy, I'm sure he's got some interesting facts and stories. That story about people working naked in the fields is true, they even did that in Island. How little people had that they were forced to live in such awful conditions. Slavery might have officially ended in the British Empire in 1834, but it continued under other guises for years after, penal servitude, indentured systems, work houses and outright forced labour. The crime committed by millions of people was that they were poor. One thing the British colonials were good at is record keeping, so much of the history is still there just waiting to be put back together.

Dear Paul,

I also loved history. I enjoy reading about real
people and hearing their stories. It transports
you to a different world. I also enjoy novels.
I remember as a young girl reading - Ruth Park's
"Playing Beatie Bow." It made me look at Sydney
in a different way. Then there was "A Day in the life of
Ivan Denisovitch," by Solzhenitsyn. And later -
"The Frozen Inferno," by Dalia Grinceviciute (not sure
if I spelled her surname correctly). And many more.
All fascinating reads.

I started this discussion in the hope of getting to know
the people we post with just a tad better and hopefully
that it would make us appreciate each other more.
Is Mise was the one who inspired me with his tale
about Dorset.

I hope that more people will end up contributing.

Dear Paul,

I recently learned through friends in Los Angeles
about the death of our family doctor.
Dr Bernard Townsley. I tried to look up his
obituary on the web and came across a Memorial
from the Temple Emanuel of Beverley Hills.
It had the most beautiful Readings and Prayers
and ways of mourning that I had never encountered
before. So moving. And something called a
"Kaddish" - which I took to be a way of grieving
and mourning by the Jewish people for their dead.

This was so appropriate. I found this on Saturday.
The day of my mum's Birthday. She would have been
100 years old. Even though I'm not Jewish - those
prayers helped me so much. And I took them to heart.

I do Ancestry.Com. & find it very interesting.

Yahweh is my 123 Great Grandfather.

I get to be related to just about everybit of Royalty that has ever existed. Roman Emperors, Saints, Bishops, Kings, Dukes & Counts by the hat full. Lots of Vikings & even a minor Chinese Warlord.

What you can't find on Ancestry.com you can pick up on the Internet.

I do notice the addage of, An Heir, a Spare, a Bishop & a Magistrate is so true. Anyone in the line after that gets to be Cannon Fodder.

Hey Jayb,

I appreciate your sense of humour.

How about really opening up?

Love to hear your ancestry.

Hmmm, my ancestry is very mundane compared to others.
I am 4th nation generation.
My earliest traceable ancestor was one James who married Sarah in a village near Bath Somerset.
Their son Steven was the cellerman in the local Walcot pub and his
wife Mary had four children one James, my great grandfather migrated to Australia on the
Marquis of Queensbury in 1855.
He went to the gold diggings in the Sofarla/Orange area.
There he took up with Henrietta the abandoned wife of a seafarer.
They went on to have four children.
They did not marry till 1912 when the seafarer was declared dead.
Their son Edward was to become my grandfather who married an Irish
girl, Mary Cunnane they had three children, my father who at a young
age enlisted in the army and ended up on the Western front in Belgium.
My mother’s family the Butchers, came from London and my Grandmother
Elizabeth a twin was born at sea 6 weeks out of Sydney.
My mother’s father had a carrying business with horses and carts.
As a girl she used to go on a delivery trip for the day with her
father all the way to Burwood.

My mother’s brother was also in Belgium near Ypes where he was
killed in the Battle of Polygon wood and on a visit there I saw his
name on the Menin gate.
After the war my father and mother married and I had a sister but she
died of peritonitis just a week before I was born.

After school my father arranged an apprenticeship for me at an
electrical company which led me eventually through electronic
instrumentation to computers and AWA’s first computer and then onto
the famous Leo Computers, descendants of Colossus at Bletchly Park in
the UK.

All that is a very mundane story but probably a very typical
story of the majority of Australians.

Mums Grandmother was born Thurles, Tipperary, Ireland & hated the British. Great Grandfather was Born in Scotland. His name was Dick. He arrived in Australia & had a handful of children & his Passport in his mouth. The Immigration Officer asked him what his name was & he nodded towards his bag. Meaning, “It’s on the Tag." The Immigration Officer looked at the Bag with Bradburn emblazoned on it & not the name on the Tag. He wrote Bradburn in the Immigration Log. & So, he had a name change to Bradburn, from. He was an Engineer at the Townsville Wharf. He had designed an Aeroplane. One night he was working on the Plans for the Aircraft in his Office. Someone came in & Sand Bagged him. The only thing missing were the Plans for the Aeroplane. He suffered Brann damage & spent the rest of his life as a virtual Vegetable.

Mums Father was born in Woodham Walter, Maldon, Essex, England. He served in the Australian Light Horse in WW1, A Machine gunner. He was at the Battle of Bathsheba in a Supporting role. A stray bullet took the heal off boot. I have his two Diaries. I am re-writing as there are some things in one that aren’t mentioned in the other & vice a versa.

Story. He & some mates were going on leave from the Jorden Valley to Jerusalem when they came under fire from a Turkish Machine Gun. They were at the top of a hill but weren’t armed. They borrowed a Donkey cart loaded with Hay & rode it down the hill & over the Machine Gun then killed the Crew. The Captured a German Sergeant who was in command of the Gun Crew. Now they had a dilemma. If they turn him in the Authorities their leave would be restricted. The put him in an Australian Uniform & took him on leave with them. 7 drunken days. On the last day they turned him in & they went back to the Jorden Valley. He committed suicide in 1939.
Cont.

Cont.
On my father’s side. Grand dad was a Gold Miner at Ravenwood but made his money moving all the houses out of Ravenwood by Rail & Bullock Team, when the Gold ran out. It now has one of the Biggest Goldmines in the World there.

Grandma was a Donald, “Not a bloody MacDonald" Short story. when I was about 8 years old I went to see the Picture "Rob Roy" MacGregor. I was running around the house waving a pretend sword when Grandma aske me what I was doing. I told her about the Picture "Rob Roy," with that she grabbed the broom & swung it at me, screaming, "Never to mention that name in this house, ever."

I ran out of the house crying Y went down the road to her brother. Uncle Any would tell me all sorts of interesting things about Scotland & how we were Kicked out, 10-pound Immigrants, of Scotland for, "Poaching Rabbits on the Lairds land." I told him about Grandma & Rob Roy & he physically threw me out of the house &, "never to darken my door again."

Now as an 8-year-old I was thoroughly confused & shaken by this time. I went to see Grandma's sister, Aunt Dolly. I told her what had happened & she hushed me up as there was another uncle sleeping on the Veranda. She gave me some Lemon Butter Sandwiches & said, "Aah laddie, in this family there are some things we don't talk about." & That was the end of that. I never found out what the big problem was. Although, it was a Donald that Rob Roy gave the Money he was loaned to take back to the Laird. He was found drowned in the Loch. She also had a connection to the Massacre at Clen Coe, but they wouldn't talk about that either. She hated the people who lived behind her because their name was Campbell.

Dear Bazz,

Thank You for taking the time to share your ancestry
with us. What a life your ancestors led. Sailing from
England, settling into a new country, digging for gold,
marriages, war, and much much more. You delving into
electronics and then computers. Mundane?
No way!

Dear Jayb.,

It must have been very hard for you as a kid not
having things fully explained. I've heard about the
Irish hating the English. We had an Irish priest who
was a close family friend. He hated the English with a
passion but wouldn't talk about it very much.
The history of Ireland is so sad. As for the Scots?
My first love was a Scotsman and to this day I can still
get weak in the knees when I think back to those times.

Could we survive such savagery ourselves?
Paul1405,
I'm sure I couldn't !

Dear individual,

What some of our ancestors had to live through
is hard for us to imagine today. I guess we
should count our blessings. I hope that my
grand children will never have to face wars
or invasions of any kind. I hope that they will
be able to live in peace and be able to leave a
worthwhile legacy for others that will follow.

Hi Foxy,

I had an uncle Frank who served in New Guinea during WWII, not on the front line but as a company barber, I don't think uncle ever got out of Port Moresby, cutting hair and all. Uncle Frank was a jolly fella, often heard to say; "They also served, those who stood and cut." as he made a painful mess of us kids hair. Well, uncles great claim to fame was: "I cut General MacArthur's hair!". The fact General MacArthur was never in New Guinea didn't seem to faze uncle on that claim. When he would say that, another uncle would quip; "Maybe Frank cut Private MacArthur's hair, cause if he cut the General hair, he would have had him taken out the next morning and SHOT!" After the war uncle Frank worked as a milkman, us kids knew why he wasn't a barber.

My Grandmother, Dads side, was General MacArthers personal Cook in Brisbane. She was inducted into the American Army. I have her Discharge Certificate & final Pay slip. When she was demobed she was sent back to Townsville on MacArthers personal C47/(DC3). It was also the Mail Plane.

On arival in Townsville the wheels wouldnt come down. A big Negro Sargent put Grandma up against the forward Bulkhead & piled all the Mail Bags on top of her. They did a wheels-up landing.

Yes Jayb we have our interesting family characters. My sort of Grand Uncle Jim, the husband of my Grandmothers sister, as Mum would say "Old Uncle Jim, he's only a prick relation" a bit of an obnoxious nasty old cuss to us kids. Uncle Jim served at Gallipoli only for a week in July 1915 as a reinforcement, before being wounded in the private parts and evacuated. My experience talking to a Gallipoli veteran. Sunday after dinner, left sitting at the table, me about 8 or 9 on one side, and crusty old Uncle Jim on the other, no one else in sight. The only question I ever asked Uncle Jim; "Uncle what did you do at Gallipoli?"....Uncle looked to the left, then to the right, to see no one was in ear shot. Then he came across the table like a angry lion to within an inch my face....."SON... I kept my F'n head DOWN!"..."By uncle, I've got to go out and play now"...."Piss off son!" it was so nice talking that one and only time to uncle. I always though pity uncle never kept something else down at Gallipoli, maybe he would have had kids of his own, heaven help them.

BTW he worked for about 40 years in the box factory, making wooden fruit boxes, it was his career.

Thanks Paul and Jayb.
My dad didn't talk about WWII much.
I found out from mum that dad's younger
brother was one of the victims of the infamous
Rainiai Massacre which took place in a forest
near Telsiai in Lithuania in 1941. The retreating
Red Army along with the NKVD (KGB) took part in this
brutal mass murder. Out of 73 bodies only 27 could
be identified. The victims were farmers, school kids.
Dad's brother was a high school student - his "crime"
consisted of belonging to the Boy Scouts.

Dad's sister had to try to identify the body. She had
a mental breakdown and was sent to Siberia.

On a happier note - I remember how pleased dad was when
after years of working hard in Australia - he finally
managed to buy get his driver's licence and bought a
car. He and mum were able to go for dives to the
Blue Mountains. He enjoyed his last couple of years on
earth. He died at the age of 52 of a massive moronary.

Which as the doctor told mum - had he survived he would
have been a vegetable. Mum later moved to Melbourne from
Sydney to be near us.

Sorry for the typos. I need new glasses.

Talking of war stories, my father who was in Belgium near Ypes was
shot in the knee in one attack and was lying on the ground after it
all died down. A couple of German soldiers came along and sat him on
his rifle and carried him back to the Australian lines where they surrended.
My father was then sent back to England to a military hospital.
He wore a brace on his leg for the rest of his life.

He mentioned that when the Americans arrived Australians were selected
by their time on the line to be attached to US units to show them how
to survive the war on the Western front.

Dear Bazz,

Australian soldiers had excellent reputations and
were regarded very highly from what I've heard.
Thanks for sharing your story about your dad.

Foxy, at that time many Australian soldiers came from farming areas
and grew up with rifles and were practised with shooting rabbits.
Germans are much bigger than rabbits !

My ancestry is pretty banal as well, I suspect. My paternal grandfather enlisted in England to fight in the anglo/Boer war in South Africa. In comparison, my maternal grandfather fought and was badly wounded in WWl.

My dad came from a large family comprising of six brothers and three sisters. All the brothers fought in the Pacific theatre against the Imperial Japanese Forces, save for my dad, who, though he attempted to enlist, was rejected due to the fact he was a manager of a farm near Mittagong, NSW, that produced essential foodstuffs and that was deemed more important than he joining up.

I suspect my dad was (privately) bitterly disappointed that he was the only brother not to have seen military service in WWll. And as if to add salt to the wound, I (his son) served overseas. Nonetheless, my dad was a very good, decent, highly honourable man in every way, and I was immensely proud of him.

Dear Bazz,

Thanks for the information about Australian
soldiers. It makes sense.

Dear O Sung Wu,

Thank You for sharing your ancestry with us.
And it sounds like you and your father were very
close. There's so much more I wanted to tell
my father - but I never did. I thought he'd live
for ever. He died at such a young age. 52.

Dear Paul,

I've just come across a book that may be of interest
to you. It's called -

"Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations
Fathers and Sons," by Thomas Mayor.

A gentle and loving book that's worth a read for
families anywhere. There's some very famous people
contributing. And some not so famous.
But well worth looking into.

My father had an interesting war. Although he had been a member of the volunteer light horse before the war, he joined the RAAF for pilot training. He was rejected as he was colour blind, then sent to train as a Norden bomb sight specialist. There he had to recognise 15 different coloured wires, but that didn't matter.

After training he was sent to Amberley as a typewriter mechanic, having rarely even touched one. After a while they realised a desperately needed bombsite specialist had disappeared & retrieved him.

He was never assigned to a squadron, but shipped all over the place to where his services were needed. He worked at most of the big airstrips in northern Oz, PNG & the Solomons, & finally Guam.

Air bases in PNG & the Solomons were dangerous places with lots of bombing, but he reckoned the most dangerous thing he did was being transported in DC3s & all sorts of bombers, flown by pilots of very doubtful ability.

At least he came back.

Do you remember "Bluey & Curley" Well, They were my Great Uncles. I said before Grandma was a Donald. The Donalds in Bowen owned the Bowen Paper.

The Three Uncles from Euri Creek joined up & because they had used all sorts of Farm Machinery they were in Engineers. They were sent to Port Morsby to extend & maintain the Runway for the Airforce.

One uncle was on his Dozed when an Air Raid came over. He climed under his Dozer. After the Bombing they found him under his Dozer but it had sunk in the mud from the vibrations & died.

The two other uncles, Bluey & Curley would wight back to the family & the letters were passed around & to the Bowen Newspaper. The Proof Reader was also a Cartoonist & would make a Cartoon out of their letters. That's how Bluey & Curley came to be.

The Cartoons were seen by the Oner of the Sydney Morning Herald & the man was hired as their Cartoonist. The Cartoons went really well untill the War ended & they went back to Euri Creek. After that their popularity declined.

Hi JayB,

"Bluey & Curley" like "Ginger Meggs" and "The Potts" along with a host of others are all part of Australia's folk history and are as just as impotent as 'The Man from Snowy River' and 'Dad and Dave'. You had some very interesting folk in your family, we all do, just got to dig them up. They may not have performed the deeds of kings and emperors but they are the people that have made the world what it is today, with all their small contributions.

Good Morning Hasbeen, Jayb, and Paul,

You guys have so much to share and your families
were the backbone of this country. I feel as if I've
gone back in time. The lockdown here in Victoria was
really beginning to get to me. I was starting to get
badly depressed - now with all your sharing of past
histories - it's opened up other worlds for me. Thank
You do very much. A great big hug to you all. I am grateful
that you've given us a glimpse into your backgrounds and
where you came from. It's truly great!