Lille ? Town Hall on fire painted on to silk with lace trim. Arras ? Town Hall on fire embroidered silk with lace and ribbon trim. Fragile silk cushion with appliqued flowers and embroidered stems and leaves - Souvenir de France. Handkerchief in the original packet with King's Own badge depicted. Handkerchief depicting 'Pro Italia' by Fortunino Mantania (he was reportedly an italian who worked for the british in the field of propaganda. || I found these items that I understand are called 'silks' in my family's memorabilia. The embroideries are quite fascinating depicting buildings on fire e.g. in Arras and Lille. They seem to have been made in diverse methods and materials, sometimes appearing to be mismatched and using up threads of different colours in the stitching. I understand the making of these 'souvenirs' was a cottage industry in Belgium and France. My Grandfather, John Earnest Southern, was in France in the Royal Lancashire Regiment and was treated in Le Treport for 'Trench foot severe' from February 1917 to April 1917. He finished the war working in the Labour Corps and was demobbed 1919. He was in a village of Aulnoye in France where he was billetted with other men in a house in a street called at that time Friedhof Str. During the night the upper floor collapsed onto those sleeping below and he was injured. This incident seems to have been instrumental in his moving to the Labour Corps. His record in the archives is incomplete. There are also several handkerchieves, not all of which were brought back or sent back by my grandfather.

My grandfather died before I was born so this story has come to me from my father. When the Ottomans joined the war my grandfather was sent to Palestine and the front against the British in Egypt. During the fighting, I don't know at which battle - whether for the Suez Canal or for Gaza, my grandfather was taken prisoner. The Ottoman prisoners were put on trains towards Egypt for internment there. But the British had taken more prisoners than they cared to care for so they conveniently forgot to lock the waggon doors. Scores of Ottoman soldiers jumped the train! The story is that my grandfather then never rejoined the ranks but found his way back home to Istanbul on his own. If this is true it must be at the very end of the war when the Ottoman Empire were in its death throes. || A photograph from 1937 which shows my grandfather and grandmother on their wedding day. || || Nessim Haskiya, Rakel Haskiya || Photograph || My grandfather's wedding photo

This story is about my maternal grandfather, “Jack” John Bates. He served in the British army at the Somme and at Ypres during the First World War. Jack was in the Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment. His father was an army man and Jack was an only child. He served in the Labour Corps and in the Expeditionary Forces. He was married to Irishwoman, Maggie Behan in January 1909. He was gassed as a Prisoner of War which affected him but fortunately he survived the war. He died many years later in 1956. His mother was from Drogheda and his father from Newcastle in England. He was born in 1878 in Guernsey or on a ship heading there. I have a treasure trove of memorabilia dating from my grandfather’s time serving during the Great War. Material that we have includes 2 medals and a miniature souvenir helmet as well as two prayer books – ‘A simple prayer book for soldiers’ and ‘The manual of catholic piety.’ He also kept what appears to have been a German Shell made into an ash tray and what was possibly a match box holder or cartridge case. I still have my grandfather’s baptismal certificate from Guernsey Church. The photographs and letters include a number of embroidered greeting cards which my grandfather sent to his loved ones at home in Drogheda, Ireland. || two medals a miniature souvenir helmet two prayer books – ‘A simple prayer book for soldiers’ and ‘The manual of catholic piety.’ a German Shell made into an ash tray and what was possibly a match box holder or cartridge case. my grandfather’s baptismal certificate from Guernsey Church photographs and letters a number of embroidered greeting cards which my grandfather sent to his loved ones at home in Drogheda, Ireland. || || Jack Bates || Photograph || Dublin 12 July 2014 || Jack Bates, soldier of the first world war || || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Postcards, Christmas card and letter || Greetings from the front || Trench Life || Jack Bates || Remembrance || Letter || || Christmas cards from the front || Jack Bates || Postcard || Western Front || || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Recruitment and Conscription || Trench Life || Telegram, labour corps document || Prisoners of War || || Letters on official stationery to Mrs. Bates in Drogheda || Trench Life || Prisoners of War || Jack and Maggie Bates || Correspondence between Jack Bates and his wife, Maggie Bates née Behan || Women || Letter || || Jack Bates || Memoranda and pension documents || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Official document || || Certificate of identity for wife or child of a soldier || Jack Bates's wife, Maggie Bates née Behan || Official document || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || || Trench Life || Jack Bates || Photograph || Photographs featuring Jack Bates and postcards from the edge || || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Women || Trench Life || Letter || More postcards from the Great War || Jack and Maggie Bates || || Jack Bates and family || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Trench Life || Women || Miscellaneous correspondence between Mr and Mrs Bates || || Trench Life || Jack Bates and family || Women || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Correspondence between Mr and Mrs Bates || Letter || || Prisoners of War || Further correspondence || Women || Jack Bates and family || Letter || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Trench Life || || Trench Life || Women || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Letters from Maggie Bates née Behan to Jack, her husband || || Trench Life || Women || Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland || Maggie to Jack Bates || Letter || || Prisoner of War, Labour Corps Document and more letters || Jack Bates || Prisoners of War || Trench Life || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Women || Letter || || Maggie to Jack Bates with home news || Women || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Letter || Trench Life || || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Jack Bates || Women || Prisoners of War || Home Front || 'A simple prayer book for soldiers' and 'The manual of Catholic piety' || || Trench Life || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || Prisoners of War || Women || Prayer book and letters || Home Front || 'The manual of Catholic piety' and letters || || A German shell made into an ashtray and medals || Medal || Remembrance || || Reverse of ashtray made from German shell, medals and a miniature souvenir helmet || Memorabilia || Dublin 12 July 2014 52 || || Photograph || Jack Bates || letters, postcards and embroidered greeting cards || Dublin 12 July 2014