Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

An ANZAC Day surprise

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • An ANZAC Day surprise

    Today is ANZAC Day in Australia & New Zealand - the day we all set aside some time to remember those who fought & still fight for Australia. Today I got a very special ANZAC Day surprise.

    My Grandfather served in the Army in WW2. He spent the war in Papua New Guinea & surrounds, deploying in mid-1942 & spending several years there. He left behind a wife & a new baby son - my father. Although he didn't see combat, the war was tough on grandad. He saw some terrible things & missed some of the crucial bonding years with his new boy. I often heard that he was never quite the same when he came home.

    Grandad died almost 25 years ago, and Nana almost a decade ago. Most of what remained at the house ended up with an aunty. She moved house recently, and in going few the boxes left over from the old house found something I had never seen before - letters from my Grandad written during the war.

    It is eerie to read the words of a person who no longer really existed when I was alive. My grandfather in his 50s was a different man in a different world by then. Most of it is just chit chat - talking about what Nana was doing & about people they knew. it is mostly mundane, yet terribly moving. I suppose it is the ordinary that you miss the most when it is not there.

    What moved me most, however, is Grandad asking after his new son. Nana sent him a photo in one of her letters, and he talks about making a little frame for it. Even then he was good with his hands (I have several coffee tables he made as a hobby - they could survive a direct hit from a bomb). It is clear even from the little he writes just how much he misses his family and it is sad to think of him separated from them for so long.

    I don't know if my Dad ever read the letters, he has been gone for a long time. I wish I could ask him. I hope he did.

    Quite a gift on ANZAC day.
    sigpic

    Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

  • #2
    What I find striking about letters of that era is that you could tell it was an intimate and practiced form of communication. Handwriting flowed, was neat, and the thoughts in general were orderly and precise. No cutting, pasting, deletions, insertions, all the things we take for granted now with a keyboard. And when they are personal, they are even more special. You may want to laminate a few of the better ones, something you can preserve for your family generations.

    Comment


    • #3
      Those letters are indeed something to be cherished.

      Chogy, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with writing on computers. I do a lot of creative writing, poetry and the like, and I can't write on paper. If I can't write it on a computer I can't get the proper vibe flowing. Obviously I can write on paper, but I prefer typing it on a computer. Does that give my words any less meaning?
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Chogy View Post
        What I find striking about letters of that era is that you could tell it was an intimate and practiced form of communication. Handwriting flowed, was neat, and the thoughts in general were orderly and precise. No cutting, pasting, deletions, insertions, all the things we take for granted now with a keyboard. And when they are personal, they are even more special. You may want to laminate a few of the better ones, something you can preserve for your family generations.

        Chogy,

        There are only 2 letters (4 small pages each). i will be scanning them on high res & then perhaps laminate.

        One thing about those old letters is the occasional final thought scrawled in the margins. There are a couple in these. i think it ads to the intimacy of the letters.
        sigpic

        Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
          Those letters are indeed something to be cherished.
          Thanks BR. I'm just sad that I didn't know about them when my grandparents & dad were alive. I would love to have talked with them about it. Unfortunately Grandad didn't talk about the war & I was too young to push the issue.

          Fortunately his brother, who was a POW in Changi & on the Thai-Burma railway, has finally begun to talk about his experiences over the last few years. Not only has he talked to family, he even gave interviews for a book on his unit. That, too, is treasured.

          Chogy, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with writing on computers. I do a lot of creative writing, poetry and the like, and I can't write on paper. If I can't write it on a computer I can't get the proper vibe flowing. Obviously I can write on paper, but I prefer typing it on a computer. Does that give my words any less meaning?
          I used to prefer writing everything out longhand - I used to think better that way. Now I am used to typing, albeit badly.

          I do understand Chogy's point about old letters. There is a real sense of connection when it is the hand of the actual person who touched the paper & wrote the words on it. I think that does give a different 'feel' to something that is typed.
          sigpic

          Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

          Comment


          • #6
            It could very well be the generation gap. My handwriting is abysmal, for instance, but I can speed blind type. Even I have a hard time reading my own handwriting afterward. It's a lot easier for me to put things down "on paper", so to speak, by typing.

            The fact that I can also express things better by writing them out than by getting my point across verbally means that when I write something, to me it has the same effect as writing something out, because this way whoever it's addressed to can understand it, and I can get my point across much better.

            Besides, the fact that we can just hit "backspace" or "delete" as opposed to erasing or using whiteout/tippex/liquid paper simplifies things and makes life easier. It's also fairly therapeutic to write a letter full of vitriol and hate towards someone who has pissed you off, and then delete it once you've gotten all your anger out and let off some steam
            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

            Comment


            • #7
              Please don't misunderstand me... my handwriting is like a 6th grader's. I am in the same boat when it comes to using computers. You do have to admit, though... how rare is the computer writing that flows in one direction, beginning to end, without deletions, insertions, cutting redundant portions, eliminating repetitive words, etc?

              I was simply expressing admiration for the letter writers of old. It is a bit of an art form, and definitely fading away.

              Comment


              • #8
                I will agree with you on that point. I don't think for a second that words have lost their gravity or impact (especially as a creative writer), but yes, it is extremely rare to start off something and finish it without editing it (again, especially as a creative writer)
                Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                Comment

                Working...
                X