well I have a couple of things. One funny another a little sad. One refers to my mothers eldest brother 'Pat' who was a sargent in one of the New Zealand Vickers Machine gun battalions and the other about my dad 'Harry' who passed away in 1998.
this was related to me by my mother who was 13 at the time
After training Pat came home to the family for 2 weeks leave before being sent overseas he carried full equipment which included his 303 lee enfield rifle.
After a few days his younger brother convinced him to let him have a shot with the rifle so they decided to shoot up the outhouse in the field next to the house. Now this outhouse was also shared at the time by the landlady who lived a few yards further down the road.
Yes you are correct the poor old dear was in the outhouse as Pat and his brother took potshots at it. Luckily she was not hurt but I guess it cured any constipation she had.
My dad almost never talked about his military time. During the war itself he had a reserve occupation as a market gardener (growing vege's) and while he enlisted in 1939 he was released to grow food which we all know is a vital occupation for military and civilian alike. In 1945 when VJ day came he heard they needed troops to occupy Japan and enlisted again. He did his training and was shipped to Japan.
The only things he ever said that I can remember was that at night you patroled back to back with your mate as the 12 year old kids would stab you in the back if they could and also they used grenades to do 'fishing' in the paddy fields. A long time ago I collected firearms and had a collectors licence. I purchased a de-activated Bren gun and when I showed him he got real exited as it appears that it was this weapon that he used to carry around.
He was bitter at the New Zealand goverment as the 'J' Force personnel were never recognised as being on active service. It was only after he died that I asked for and recieved for the family a medal struck only a few years before his death for these 'J' force vetrans. He refused to apply for his as the bitterness was there right to the end. I also got a copy of his service records and only then discovered he was repatriated back to New Zealand with tropical ulcers which would not heal and spent 18 months in a rehab centre/hospital in Rotorua NZ. It was here he met my mother and got married.
Just before he died he was in hospital and I was asked to get a document from one of his drawers in the bedroom at home and while looking I found his paybook and a small chocolate box of box brownie photos he took while in Japan. Some were of a military nature but most were scenery. These became mine in the end, although I gave the photo album to a niece in NZ as I have no one to pass it onto and she, at least, will treasure it. I did offer it to the AWM in Canberra only to be told 'We have enough of those type of pictures'.
So there we are. What makes a man who is deeply disapointed and bitter with his goverment over his service keep his paybook right to the bitter end?
Other stories by my late mother (who was 13 years old) include ones of US service men turning up at her home with helmets full of fresh eggs for 'Ma Casey' my mothers mother to cook breakfast for them in their 'home away from home'.
like others writting there storys this has brought tears to my eyes remembering my folk and the fact that I never really talked to my dad about this and a lot of other things and now I wish I had.
so to my Dad and uncle and all the other Vetrans out there both the living and the departed I salute you all
