My Family and the Great War

[FramFramson]

I'm historically Mennonite; we believe in non-resistance so no war. When we went to the Crimea, Catherine the Great gave us an exemption on military duty. Forestry (forstei) service was the option. In the Great War, some of us decided to be medics. It was very controversial. Even worse, when the revolution happened, the Russian Reds attacked the villages, and after 500 years of not fighting, the Mennonites formed self defence (selbstschutzen) units and fought back! Very interesting history.

My people settled in Southern Ontario in the 1920s, leaving the Soviet Union following Stalin's Harvest of Sorrow, which devastated the Ukraine, and killed over 6 million people. Many Mennonites did settle in Southern Manitoba though.

Ah! I live in Toronto, but I'm originally from Manitoba, so there were plenty of Mennonites and Ukrainians around (and yes, plenty of Mennonites in Ontario too).

[jp1885]

That's a great photo Grant, and a very interesting slice of history!

My Aunt said my Grandfather never fully trusted anyone in authority for the rest of his life.

I don't blame him!

I've now added a page about my great uncle (grandad's brother) here - http://myfamilyww1.blogspot.co.uk/p/john-lee-price-aka-gwilliam.html

[Calimero]

My arrière grand-père died in 1920 from complication due to gas inhalation in the western front trenches (he serve in the French Infantry). He lived long enough to see the birth of his two daughters (my grandmother and her older sister).

I hope I come up with some plan to "celebrate" the Great War Centennial myself...

[jp1885]

I'd be interested to see what you come up with 

[MatrixGamer]

My grandmother was a little girl when she saw her first airplane, 1917. The family were riding into town in a wagon in Southern Indiana. They saw what had to have been a Jenny. They wondered if it was a German plane. The irony of course was that we were Germans...

My roommate in college had a Grandfather in the war, a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army. Another friend's Grandfather was in the Russian army, but deserted in 1919to come to the US. Nowadays people have no contact to the war or the flu epidemic.

[Wirelizard]

My maternal great-grandfather was a Quaker and served as an ambulance driver and stretcher bearer on the Western Front, apparently, with a Canadian medical unit organized out of somewhere on the Prairies - I need to ask my grandmother again, I can't remember if it was out of Winnipeg or Regina. At least one of his brothers didn't make it home.

On my father's side, I'm the inheritor of a rather awesome family artifact - a great-great-uncle's last letter home from the Western Front, dated Feb 1918. He was killed April 1918, and as his name is listed on Menin Gate, he body was presumably never identified or recovered. He'd enlisted in the South African infantry in 1914 and arrived in France sometime around November 1914, so he was an old hand at the whole trench war thing when he was killed, quite likely. I've also got his Princess Mary's tin from Christmas 1914, which I really need to get decent photos of one of these days.

Entertainingly, given the later link in my family between South Africa and Canada, my great-great-uncle writes that while on leave in England, they played rugger (rugby) against some Canadian troops from the next camp, and he complains that they played very rough rugby, leaving his legs "black and blue from top to bottom" from kicking!

[commissarmoody]

My Great grandpa was a late comer to the conflict in Frances seeing as how he came in with the AEF, but he was still no stranger to conflict having graduated from west point and served as a Lt. in Perishing's Mexican expedition to get Pancho Villa. He actually was in the last US cavalry charge in North America. Got his Calvary saber and his west point one two.
Still can not find out what unit he served with over in Frances, a wear house fire it the 50s I believe destroyed a lot of old war records. but he did get gassed and got the bronze star for leading his unit in the Musse-Argon, they knocked out 3 Mg nests before he got domed. Knocked him out cold and left a bald spot on the top of his head, but luckily his helmet saved him.
He transferred to the Air crop and was well on his way to general in World war 2 when a routine flight turned into a tragedy.
Co-pilot of the plane he was on accidently cut the full feed to the left engine causing the plain to crash. Killing all on board.
On the up side they were able to do a recall on all of those plains and move the switch to above the co-pilots head instead of nest to his knee.   

[jp1885]

Some smashing stories - thanks for sharing them! 

[Dobbie71064]

Some amazing stories here, thanks for sharing them everyone!

Quote
My Aunt said my Grandfather never fully trusted anyone in authority for the rest of his life.

I don't blame him!

Nor do I! Thats a great yet tragic story.

My family, to my knowlege, didnt play much of a part in the Great War. I beleive my great great uncle (I think it was 2 great) was a pilot but we dont have much information on him. Just a braclet with his name on it from the period. I dont know what unit he flew with, i think it was the RFC but im not 100% sure. The only story my grandmother knows about was him 'crashing' his plane often, it seemed he prefered his time in the hospital with the nurses VS the front. Again, im not sure if this is correct or not.

[maxxon]

I guess it's not technically the Great War, but my great great grandfather got caught on the wrong side of the Russian revolution and spent quite some time in a bolshevik prison camp until they let him go and he was able to move to back Finland.

I just recently came into possession of a box he built:


More on the box in my blog:
http://www.smallcuts.net/blog/?id=1515

P.S. Might have gotten confused with all the greats in there. He was my grandmother's grandfather, born in Finland but moved to Russia in his teens.

[jp1885]

That's a real work of art!
I've put up a new page on my blog today, with a nautical flavour... http://myfamilyww1.blogspot.co.uk/p/arthur-easton-kennington.html