My Grandfather and his 2 brothers (my Great Uncles) are family heroes, they all fought in World War 1.
One of my Great Uncles was killed in the October of 1918, which was the third last day that the AIF were in action.
His unit had withdrawn, and he had volunteered to return to the field to aid in the evacuation of other units.
My Grandfather nursed his other brother while he suffered and eventually passed away with the Spanish Flu.
I was 8 months old when my Grandfather passed away, he was deeply troubled by his war service.
Thanks Pop, I will never forget.
My father told me that for his mother WW1 ended in 1975, the day his father died.
She set fire to his medals.
I only lived in the same city as them for a few months and as child you don't notice such things.
I imagine that my grandfather may have returned to Australia and he and his family experienced the aftermath as depicted in My Brother Jack.
My other grandfather also went to France but right towards the end in the reserve regiments that were used to prop up the decimated ranks in 1918. He lived a much less traumatised life.
Though both died in the 70s, their only overseas trip they ever took was the government funded cruise to the slaughter houses of Flanders and the Somme.
My father was in the merchant navy in WW2. Transporting oil around the Pacific to ships and bases...not a combat role but I figure pretty brave...in an unarmed ship, full of fuel oil, in the engine room, I figure his chances were pretty slim under attack.
Before he went to sea he was finishing his apprenticeship in the naval dockyards in Sydney and patrolling the harbour at night. The good thing about that was that my mothers brother was in the crew on the patrol,boat and that's how my parents met.
At the end of the war my father was on ships that went to Singpore to bring the POWs home. I think this was more traumatic for outsiders to observe than the death of comrades. Death in war can occur without suffering but it was clear to all that these men had suffered unspeakably. This impacted my father considerably .. a case of by the grace of God. Weary Dunlop was his most admired person.
So whilst my grandparents and father had lifelong burdens caused by war, I've been lucky twice because of war...both grandfathers came home and my parents met directly because of it.
