Yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Australia – all the talk is about how it was a different occasion for mothers in different states. Some states are relaxing restrictions and allowing gatherings of various sizes. The ‘state of emergency’ here in Victoria ends today which is when all these rules and regs. will be reassessed and we’ll learn what we can and can’t do as we slowly bring our lives back to normal…..whatever that will be.
Last week there was much talk and news reporting about VE Day – lots of archival sentimental singing and British street parties as well as those taking place there and then in real time. The celebration was for the ending of a war in Europe – of course we know it certainly wasn’t ‘all over’……it was business as usual in other parts of the world. My mum, her extended family and me as a 2 yr old were in Portsmouth……my dad was way way away with an RAF runway construction unit in Burma, then later in Hong Kong so for him VJ Day (Victory in Japan) later to be known so VP Day (Victory in the Pacific) was more relevant.
We’d all seen the infamous photo taken of dad in khaki along with the ‘bar room hostess’ – I’m sure he was stressed by what was happening and this was a way to let off steam. Those times had a deeper effect on mum, courtesy of bombing raids thunderstorms would see her in the cupboard under the stairs, there’s no way she would have climbed up onto a gun for a photo shoot with her daughters.
Somehow/Somewhere my brother found an old photo of Dad to put on a VE Day post on Facebook – one I’d never seen before. Taken during those war years in the Far East – I see a man I never knew, a young Irishman aged 25. He looks fun, an attribute he never lost, gosh I wish I’d known him then, before he became ‘just our dad!’
Still Waters 
Precious photos.
I have virtually none of my parents and none of their younger selves.
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They certainly are precious photos EC. My sister found that one tucked away in an old album of mum’s.
How sad to not have a record of your parents younger days but then many lost/didn’t have those keepsakes because of times/circumstances.
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A wonderful expression of your cherished memories, Cathy.
Our parents went through a time…many years of hardship…far worse,far tougher, than what we are experiencing presently….today;s generations should be mindful of that…it is about time many of them become aware of that….
It’s time for many of today’s generation to stand tall…and look life straight in the eye…and realise it is not a “me-me” society/world!
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I’ve given away many reminders of my life Lee but photos are not one of them.
I agree with you in that younger generations have no idea of what those much older than themselves have been through. For all those hardships I don’t remember either my mother or father talking about the war years. Their younger days before the war, yes, but not how they suffered/felt during those years. I wish they had because then it might have explained some of their behaviour. Dads drinking for one.
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Your dad looks such a warm young bloke in that photo
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That’s a great description of him Kylie – warm. He was fun, he laughed and sang, he was caring and compassionate- a long standing member of a ‘lodge’ that did work for underprivileged.
Yet he drank and seemed troubled at times
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A thousand thanks to your brother for finding and posting that picture.
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I was surprised and quite emotional when I saw it Joanne
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Love that last photo of your dad. He looks like he had a real love for life 🙂
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He definitely did Margaret. Warm caring compassionate socially aware of life’s injustices yet troubled at times
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What a great photo of your father. I see mischief and fun in his eyes, and he was not a bad looker, before he came burdened by a daughter 😜
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HaHa Andrew….there were three of us in the end. He often said – you three and your mother will be the death of me! We loved him though!
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It must be nice to see old photos of him as a young man.
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Definitely Gigi – especially as I’d never seen this one before.
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I love old pics. One day I’ll go through my parents stash of photos
Yes. Milestones this year are all so very very different
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What a wonderful find. My Dad was in Burma too, in a tank, he looks incredibly young in his pictures.
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Cathy, with all the recent emphasis on WW1 I think we forget that those who fought in WW2 were also young
I don’t remember seeing a photo of my Dad looking so young though
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