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| c1940 anti-aircraft training at Bonegilla |
This post continues on with a study
of my grandfather, Sergeant Keith Leo GRENFELL (1911-1944).
I’m linking the Sepia Saturday photo prompt (related to dangerous activities) to his training at two
WWII camps – Bonegilla (near Albury) and Darley (near Bacchus Marsh).
I’ve already written about some of his military service, and the 150 mile Bonegilla march (with the fabulous
old film clip - sepia and crackly).
Here are some photos I found
on Trove from the two training camps that I consider to be ‘dangerous training’.
It was certainly dangerous training for my grandfather as he was wounded during
one training and never really recovered.
But that is a story for another day.
Here are some fabulous
photos from the Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs, State Library of
Victoria.
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| c1940 training with a medium machine gun at Bonegilla |
We don’t have many photos of
my grandfather, so imagine my excitement when I was flicking through the photos
and came across one among the Physical Training group.
What do you think – is the fifth
from the back my grandfather?
I’ve included a photo from
our own collection taken just a few years earlier for comparison.
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| c1940 training with a medium machine gun at Bonegilla |
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| c1939 Learning the correct way to throw hand grenades at Darley |
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| c1939 Climbing over and through barbed wire fences at Darley |
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| c1940 Learning how to disarm a soldier at Bonegilla |
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| 2nd AIF NCOs training, at Darley. Is it Keith, 5th from the back? |
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| Keith with his son (my Dad) |
Yes, it certainly looks like him, doesn't it. How exciting.
ReplyDeleteOh, well done Jackie. And I think you might be right with the ID. What a fit-looking bunch.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the most dangerous part of the training is learning how to throw a hand grenade. I'm willing to bet that at some point, they were throwing live grenades! And yes, I agree with Brett & Boobook - the ears & the hairline seem to fit.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for Keith -- exciting find.
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are quite interesting because I really don't know what training involves (except what I see in movies). But those guys developed some fine muscles!
How interesting! Your photos are beautiful, and tell quite a story as well.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to throw a grenade like a cricket ball - it would have gone further,
ReplyDeleteThere's certainly a likeness - what a lot of muscle on display!
ReplyDeleteA fine set of training photographs. Good post!
ReplyDeleteHard to be sure, especially when the men are grimacing with the effort of flexing their muscles, but I'm not much good at photo ID. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good story and neat spin on the theme. It's surprising what you can discover in old archives.
ReplyDelete