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.