My bachelor Uncle who lived with his parents and then purchased the family house when they died, passed away earlier this year. I have just inherited the photos, postcards etc. Amongst them I found the following postcard to my Grandmother from her boyfriend who was KIA ...

"Somewhere at sea
Jan 1/1917
Dear Bonnie, just a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and in very good health, hoping this finds you the same. I hope you received the photos which I sent. I would be very pleased if you sent me one of yourself. I am having a very good time, the trip has been a most enjoyable one so far, the sea has been calm nearly all the time, and was only seasick once. I will now close with best wishes to all at home, hoping they are all well. I am yours sincerely, J.F.W."

Embarked 15/11/1916, KIA 04/10/1917.
I have photocopied the card and laminated it and will attempt to find his cross today at the field of remembrance at the Auckland Domain and attach it.

koru67 - 2018-11-11 06:50:00

How special is that!!!

carbs51 - 2018-11-11 07:34:00

That is great, the field of Crosses is amazing, I've found my cousin there and look forward to returning in a few days to claim him. I took my daughter yesterday to show her with a photo of him and his details. It was a special moment as he was only a couple of months younger than she is now and I could see her stop and think about that.I encourage everyone to check their trees and honor those who died overseas.

titchs_nz - 2018-11-11 08:44:00

So we found him, yay, and attached the postcard copy so if his family locate him there it would be something special for them. Plus anyone else may read it and enjoy it too.
I also found my Great Uncle who I have "found" a couple of times previously. I haven't heard of the crosses being able to be claimed and removed in previous years, maybe I just was not aware it was an option. My Great Uncle already has a sticker attacked to it that reads family collect, otherwise I would have gone and collected his later this week. Good on you titchs_nz for going to claim yours.

koru67 - 2018-11-11 17:15:00

carbs51 wrote:

How special is that!!!

That's what I thought too.

We have all had a laugh over a very dapper young gentleman (not the one above) who sent her a studio portrait of himself in 1914 which reads on the back To Bonny with best Xmas wishes. From Roy …
I must upload a photo and then you can see what I mean.
here he is...
https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/907543066.jpg

Edited by koru67 at 5:28 pm, Sun 11 Nov

koru67 - 2018-11-11 17:21:00

Excellent!

I haven't yet found a few crosses I was looking for. I gave up last night due to my poor night vision! 1915 was too far down the hill for the lighting, but it was a perfect evening for the projections onto the museum.

4pc - 2018-11-11 18:39:00

Great info. We collected our family's four crosses after a lot of searching. Can't face the thought of them being dumped after the 20th.

l8apex - 2018-11-15 09:03:00

I found Bonnie's postcard koru!

I couldn't find one cross I was looking for from 1916. I must have walked a few kms looking for it and it's definitely not in that year. It's either in the wrong year or someone had collected it before Wednesday.

4pc - 2018-11-16 20:13:00

l8apex wrote:

Great info. We collected our family's four crosses after a lot of searching. Can't face the thought of them being dumped after the 20th.

Well done. I would have collected my Great Uncles if someone else had not already claimed it. My sister put a note on it last weekend and the relative who has since picked it up has been in touch, nice to reach another member of the extended family.

koru67 - 2018-11-16 21:18:00

Good to know the postcard is still there 4pc. Hopefully it gives a few people enjoyment to read it.

koru67 - 2018-11-16 21:19:00

Today we have had contact from the family of Jack Ward. They picked up his cross from the field of remembrance and then put the postcard aside as they were going overseas the next day. When they returned they could not remember where they put it, so searched high and low this week and located it. We will return the postcard to them and the photos. A nice item for them to have.

Edited by koru67 at 3:24 pm, Fri 29 Mar

koru67 - 2019-03-29 15:23:00

That's wonderful koru.

4pc - 2019-04-16 22:57:00