Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 Pals, Rummaged through my bedside drawer the other day and found my great-great-uncle's 1900 China War Medal, which I managed to retrieve from a dealer from New York! What single family artefact from WW1 or before do you cherish? Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 Has to be my Grandfather's crossed trumpets badge (Sgt Trumpeter 19th Hussars) and the postcards he sent back from the Western Front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KILTY Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 Mine has to be my grandfathers 1914-15 star, which I thought had been lost until a few months ago. It now hangs where it belongs next to his war, victory & ww2 defence medal. Kilty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 A few bits of Sopwith Camel and the MC and bar of a gutsy pilot who died exactly a year before the end of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 Also has to be Grandad's 14/15 Star, war & victory medals. For me, as a person with no one to pass them on to, they are also where they belong - on display with others at the Museum of the Manchesters. I visit them often. Respect, Tom ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Bluestein Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 Removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff. Hobson Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 My Father's 14/15 Star his War and Victory Medals, apart from these a medallion I found with his medals with the facsimilie of the head of General Joffre on one side, inscribed on the other side " 139 Brigade Christmas 1915" also a clip of 303 rounds which he was carrying when hit, the end round which was badly damaged finally fell to pieces the next round is somewhat dinted. I have just realised I have been a member of this forum for One Year, here's to the next 12 months and thanks to Chris Baker and everyone who have helped me and whose patience I must tried along the way. Kind regards, Cliff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 I don't have any military artefacts from the family. However I do have my grandmothers bible. Stuck to the inside the front cover are three newspaper cuttings recording respectively the safe return of her brother from France in 1918, the death of her son KIA 1942 and the birth of her first grandson in 1949 - me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Birch Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 A 1917 Lee Enfield .303 rifle and bayonet, with sling, pull through and oil bottle, in excellent condition although unfortunately now de-activated. I often wonder whose personal weapon it was and whether he survived? Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttd0 Posted 25 October , 2003 Share Posted 25 October , 2003 I don't have my Great Grandfather's or Great Uncle's medals but I have something close. One of my Great Uncles was 7638 William Wiltshire of the 1/Wilts. I have the 1914 Star to 7640 A. Knee of the 1/Wilts. Both were pre war regs and I am confident that their paths would have crossed. William Wiltshire survived the war as a POW where as A.Knee received a gun shot wound in the first month and was invalided home. Also have the medals to a Wiltshire man killed in the same action as William Wiltshire was taken POW - the two were in the same Bn. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 26 October , 2003 Share Posted 26 October , 2003 Sorry Ian, I don't have just one item that is special to me: 1. A Soldier's Prayer Book, signed by William George Swain to his sister Alice (my paternal Nan) in 1915; he was killed on 21 March 1918. 2. My paternal Grandfather's BWM & VM. He threw them into the coal bunker on the outbreak of WW2 and they were rescued by my father. 3. 1915 Trio and CEF 'Services at the Front' badge awarded to my great-grandfather. The originals were lost in a house-fire in the 60's and I managed to get the Canadians to send a replacement set to my Nan, who gave them to me as a birthday present. 4. 1915 Trio, Defence Medal, gold 'Daily Mail' Gardening Medals & WWI paperwork belonging to another great-grandfather. 5. Two French rifle rounds with the bullets fashioned into chess pieces (from a full set) that Edward Swain (William's brother) sent home before he was killed on 2 February 1916. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 26 October , 2003 Share Posted 26 October , 2003 Our great uncle Gabriel Townsend's last letter home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 26 October , 2003 Share Posted 26 October , 2003 Our great uncle Gabriel Townsend's last letter home. You can't get more treasured then that! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 Mine are my Grandfather's souvenirs, including his cap badges, Army wallet with various papers and postcards, a signal, instructing him to take the mules back down and attend a trade test, a clip of 5 bullets, a group photo with him on a Lewis Gun course in 1915, medals, Salonika Reunion Association badge, field dressing (unused, though opened by an inquisitive youngster - sorry Gramps) and pride of place to his cap and gas mask. He died long before home computers, let alone the internet, but I'm sure he'd be overjoyed that I take pride in his war service, and can share this amongst the fellowship on the Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Underwood Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 In my case it would be the BRM and VM of my father's father John (Jack) Underwood, a sailor of the Mercantile Fleet Auxilary. Its a miracle the medals survived, given that after he passed away of a heart attack in 1943 at the youngish age of 44, his wife (my Nanny) destroyed all photos and ephemera of him in an effort to erase him from memory one would assume. Surprisingly, she kept the medals however, and gave them to my dad late in her life, so that 'the boys could play with them'. Subsequently we did play with them and somewhat pitted and sans ribbons they came into my possession a few years ago. Thankfully, a few scraps of his service records survived, and roughly 10 years ago two photographs of him surfaced from a great aunt's deceased esate. Prior to which my Dad had forgotten what his father looked like. I'm happy to report that that whilst 'Jack' left a very slight footprint on the world, through my efforts and the knowledge of these forum, I'm helping make it more substantial. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle bill Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 For me it has to be something that was passed on to me by an elderly french lady. It's a pair of destroyed field glasses that belonged to a junior French artillery officer ( aspirant ). They still have pieces of shrapnel inside. She also gave me a post card that he wrote home, explaining that conditions were hard on the front where he was ( near Notre dame De Lorette ). The card is dated 15 June 1915. She also gave me a small card death card with his photo which is also dated 15 June 1915. I just imagine him writing this in some dugout then going out to die moments later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somme1916 Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 To my knowledge I have no relatives that fought in the war. So my most cherished Great War artifact is a very beaten up Tommy combat boot that I found “near” Mametz Wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 I suggest you check this link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dixon Posted 27 October , 2003 Share Posted 27 October , 2003 I think it would have to be the complete set of family medals dating back to Afghanistan in the 19th century. Three family sets of Pip Squeak and Wilfred, belonging to the Great Uncles (all killed). There is also a pocket watch which belonged to the only Great Uncle who survived the war, but was killed when he fell off a bus, a couple of years after the war ended. However the most moving is the letter written by the Australian doctor who treated my Great Uncle Will ( to whom my posts are dedicated) written on the morning he died. He was shot on the retreat from Mons, and I cannot but feel that despite the fact that Doctor had probably written hundreds of identical letters that week, the humility still brings a lump to my throat every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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