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remembrance
Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday have fallen on the same day this year. So today I am remembering my great-great-grandfather John Melean, who was wounded in the final weeks of the Great War in 1918 and died of those wounds in hospital in Southampton in February 1919, leaving behind a widow and 9 young children.
And I am remembering my great-great-grandfather Alf Browning, who survived the Great War and came home and fathered a long family - but, having been gassed, was never quite the same again, right up to the day he died.
And I am remembering my great-great-grandfather George Ward, who was fortunate enough to survive intact but never forgot his experiences.
I am also remembering my great-uncle Bobby Browning (son of Alf, mentioned above), who ran away to join the Merchant Navy in 1941 when he was just 17 years old, and was drowned just a few weeks later when his ship was torpedoed.
And his brothers, including my grandfather, who all served in the Forces in some capacity or other
And so many millions of other soldiers down the ages, who either lost their lives or survived scarred in some way, whether mentally or physically, because man simply cannot seem to live in peace with man.
Lest we forget.
And I am remembering my great-great-grandfather Alf Browning, who survived the Great War and came home and fathered a long family - but, having been gassed, was never quite the same again, right up to the day he died.
And I am remembering my great-great-grandfather George Ward, who was fortunate enough to survive intact but never forgot his experiences.
I am also remembering my great-uncle Bobby Browning (son of Alf, mentioned above), who ran away to join the Merchant Navy in 1941 when he was just 17 years old, and was drowned just a few weeks later when his ship was torpedoed.
And his brothers, including my grandfather, who all served in the Forces in some capacity or other
And so many millions of other soldiers down the ages, who either lost their lives or survived scarred in some way, whether mentally or physically, because man simply cannot seem to live in peace with man.
Lest we forget.
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In any case,RIP! It is really cool that you have all these photos and documentation. I don't know of any ancestors who fought in WWI because my direct ancestors who were living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire or territory ruled by Russia or Germany (re: Polish family) had already left for the States before WWI broke out, thank goodness. (In fact I know my Slovak great-grandfather emigrated at the beginning of the 20th century to avoid the dread Austro-Hungarian draft.) My Sicilian ancestors were also in the US in time.
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