On Saturday evening I received a call from the local hospital to say that
my father, Bill Lamin, passed away peacefully in his sleep. He fought a
long batt...
10 years ago
About Me
- Pte Harry Lamin
- Born in August 1887 in Awsworth Notts, to Henry and Sarah Lamin. Elder Sisters Catherine (Kate), Mary Esther and Sarah Anne(Annie) and Elder brother John (Jack). Educated at Awsworth Board School, just outside Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. I served with honour in the 9th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment seeing front line action in Flanders and Northern Italy from the end of 1916 to January 1920.
My Blog List
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What a fantastic find the War Diary has been. I wasn't aware of such a document until almost a year into the project. After that it became the main source...14 years ago
About the souvenirs - my Grandad, who served throughout WW1 and was wounded in the Battle of Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, had a little collection of souvenirs from his time in the Somme area in 1918...an enamel brooch with the name of the town Amiens, a little silver-coloured ring engraved "Somme", and a rosary with markings from the Somme battlefields. I think the people in the towns and villages servicing the needs of the huge numbers of soldiers behind the lines made a living how they could, including selling them souvenirs! Apparently, the front in France and Belgium was always simply referred to as France. Oh, if you don't mind a little correction, The local name for Ypres is Ieper, not Leper.
4:45 PM
The lace card is beautiful. I have one of them myself, except it is wishing a merry christmas. My Grandpa gave it to me several years ago and I keep it safe. There was penciled writing on the back which has since been erased, and I can't make out the shadows so I don't know who it was to or from. But I can assume it was mailed by his father, who also was a WWI British Veteran, to a family member. I'm am only starting reading the blogs, but am really enjoying them.
7:06 PM
I recently visited Liberty Memorial and the WWI museum in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. They had very poignant collection of souvenir postcards sent from soldiers at the front. To a rural family from wheatfields of Kansas, a postcard from France would have been a wondrous thing.