Saturday 31 August 2013

Sepia Saturday – Three Men went to War


I’ve decided to respond to this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt with a photo of three men: one of my favourite photos of my grandfather (centre) and two of his brother’s in law.

This photo was taken in 1937, when they were celebrating the birth of my father, the first child among the three of them.

I love the sense of fun and happiness in this photo. 

Little did they know that just a few years later these three men would go off to WWII and only two would survive.

From left to right:
Halley Edward HAWKINS (1910 – before 1997), known as Uncle Hal married my grandmother’s little sister Enid Laura FRANCIS (1913 – 1997) in April 1936. They didn’t have children until after the war. Uncle Hal enlisted in July 1940 and was discharged in October 1945 as a Lance Sergeant in the 2/8 Australian Infantry Battalion.

Keith Leo GRENFELL (1911 – 1944) my grandfather married my grandmother in February 1936. I’ve written about Gren before, here.
Keith was in the Citizen’s Military Forces (like the Army Reserves now I think) from about 1930 so was snapped up as a training sergeant into the army as WWII broke out. He had a series of illnesses and complications following an injury from a gun during a training exercise. I’m still wading through his extensive military and medical files trying to make sense and a timeline from them. He spent a lot of time in different army hospitals and rehabilitation centres. My dad can vaguely remember as a little boy catching the train up to the city to visit him in a ‘huge’ hospital. Keith died in their local hospital in Yallourn before his second son reached his first birthday.

Mervyn Collier FRANCIS (1918 – 2008), known as Uncle Jack, my grandmother’s little (or I should say younger as he was soooo tall) brother. I have written about Uncle Jack before, here.  Uncle Jack enlisted in the AIF in January 1940 and was discharged in September 1941 before joining the RAAF (air force) in October 1941. He was a Warrant Officer at RAAF HQ in Washington, USA by the time he was discharged in March 1946. He had come home to marry in February 1944 just a month before Keith died.

And I’m pretty sure the following is the only photo in my collection with braces. It’s my dad (on the right) after he had been in his own wars: broken his neck falling off his bicycle. He is with his little brother (left), and their Uncle Jack (see above) who was like a second father to them. Uncle Jack died in 2008 and dad’s brother in 2009.

19 comments:

  1. Your poor Dad and your poor grandmother. She must have been sick with worry. Great photos particularly that first one - such joy!

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  2. There is something so poignant about that first photograph and the knowledge that only two of them were to survive the dreadful conflict that lay ahead. Thank goodness history is a one-way process.

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  3. Your poor father! Looks like a terribly uncomfortable rig he's got on: but he's got his suspenders!

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  4. That first photo is a wonderful thing to have - even knowing the one wouldn't survive the war. Such joy & playfulness in that picture. As awful as it is to lose someone in wars, at least in more recent history we know (usually) what happened to our loved ones & where they are - whether buried in a foreign cemetery or sent home to be buried locally. But in my historical research for stories I write - looking back even a few hundred years, men (& boys!) went off to fight in battles & much of the time the kinfolk back home had no idea what happened to them if they didn't come home, & that must truly have been awful.

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  5. They look like they are having a lot of fun in the first photo.

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  6. Your right its a fun picture of the three of them .... Just love your grandads trousers they look like Oxford pleats a lot of fabric in them
    Jackie
    Scrapbangwallop

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  7. This was a bit of a roller coaster for me. The first few sentences and photo made me smile and portray great happiness, which soon changed when I read that two of them died.

    Now a big hole in the ground Yallourn? That is where my father grew up and the house was pulled down and used to build a new home in Moe.

    Your dad was very lucky. Did his neck cause him problems later in life?

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    1. Yes, my dad's house was 'swallowed' up in the big hole that was Yallourn. They moved to a commission house nearer Uncle Jack.
      Yes, Dad still suffers from neck problems and has very few memories from before that time.

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    2. Small World! Horsham area and now Yallourn in common! I wonder if he knew any of the Walker kids?

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  8. Great photos and story. and look at that clothes line in the first photo! We had one just like that.

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  9. Yes, a wonderful reminder of a very happy moment, despite what was to come.

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  10. Love the first photo. The word Larrikin immediately springs to mind.

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  11. Your grandpa looks so happy and fun to be around, as they all look very happy, and enjoying life!

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    1. Uncle Jack told me my grandfather was one of the nicest men he ever met.

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  12. That must have been quite a spill your father took to injure his neck that way...
    Did he swear off biking for the rest of his life,
    or did he actually picked it up again once he got better?!?
    :)~
    HUGZ

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    1. They breed them tough in the Australian country - dad went back to riding a bike, and even a little trail (motor) bike. We all rode bikes too.

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    2. So, no big trauma here. Good for him!!
      :)~
      HUGZ

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  13. Your lead photograph is a treasure. A moment of laughter and silliness caught forever. Fine post.

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  14. A broken neck from a fall off a bicycle? That must have been some fall!

    It's easy to see why you like the picture of your grandfather and his brothers. What fun! No doubt as young boys they kept THEIR parents on their toes.

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