This has been become a mystery photo for me as to who the guy on the left is. I use to assume that it was my dad in the photo. I know it was taken during WW 2. As I look as some of my photos of my dad and photos that his brother, my Uncle Donald, had sent home, they both looked alike in uniform at that age. There was a seven years age difference but in the twenties they had very similar features.
My Uncle Donald served in the Aleutian Islands which now today is Alaska. It was our military base during the war, which I believe must have been in the territory that was controlled by Russia at the time.
My memory of Uncle Donald's work was to help fuel and service planes. The mystery to me is that he is so dressed up for some reason. Maybe he is being flown to a major city to catch a train home. I just don't know.
When my dad was sent over seas to Belgium as a soldier, he was sent in a very small boat. The ship was too small for pleasant voyages and the stories he told of sea sickness by most of the men were gruesome. Keeping food down was very difficult as the waters were rough most of the way over there. I guess hot black coffee was the thing that helped to keep food down.
I assume this is a photo of a ship that was seen on the way over or at the harbor where they were landing. World War specialists probably can enlarge this photo and tell me it's a US Navy war ship.
While in Belgium my dad took a snap of the local means of hauling and transportation. The year again has to be our 1943-44.
Some pictures just have to tell there own stories. This is in Belgium after the German's have been driven out of the country. I think abandoned is written on the back, but nothing else. I have photos of my dad taken or various things like trains and tanks that have been disabled, bombed maybe.
I don't know what is going on in the photo and there is no caption on the back of photo. They must be crossing the river and perhaps the bridges were destroyed.
Old photos carry such a mystery when they are taken sixty eight years ago. The photographer is gone and the story can only be created by the viewer. Time and history tells us some info but exact location and cause and effect are a mystery.
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10 comments:
Your dad's photos are interesting. They look more like a vacation than a war.
You are right, mystery abounds with old photos. I love the "abandoned" photo and a quick glimpse of "everyday" life in Belgium.
Wonderful ‘mystery’ shots and descriptions of the sea voyages. We so often have to use our imahginations to flesh out the stories behind these old photos. Thanks for sharing.
Actually they did stay for a while in apartments before they were assigned to the front line. My dad said they saw the men coming in off the front line, shell shocked and exhausted and wounded. They were to become fresh recruits for a very life changing experience.
I love that old abandoned boat....such nice photos, mysteries and all....the sea if lovely too...you have a charming family...!Thanks!
That ship looks like a ghost floating in the sea.
Yes, Larry, that final paragraph really does sum up what Sepia Saturday is all about. The photographs are wonderful and give a fine insight into a would now gone.
My elder brother served in the Fleet Air Arm on aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean during WWII, I vaguely remember his collection of photos from that time. But he refused to talk about his experiences.
Your Dad's experiences and photos are things to treasure Larry, as I'm sure you do.
Great pictures. I like the abandoned boat. They do look more like holiday pictures than war pictures.
I've just posted an article on Photo-Sleuth about some photos from my grandfather, taken during the war before this one, but coincidentally they include a very similar shot of a ship not too different from the one your father went to war in. Surprising, considering they were more than two decades apart.
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