Home thoughts of Woolwich from Italy .......... June 1919

This is the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele in Faenza in  Emilia-Romagna sometime in the early 20th century.

It is a picture I like and is also one that reminds me of Varese where some of our family live.

But what marks this picture out as special is that it belongs to Daniel Murphy who told me that 'in 1914 my father joined the Royal Artillery, RHA/RFA as a driver. 

From that time until the end of the WW1 he sat astride a horse and pulled field guns and ammunition carriages into place on the front line both in France, where he was shot and suffered shrapnel wounds, and later in Egypt and Pakistan, where he contracted malaria . 

On his way home from Cairo in June 1919 he sent this postcard to his mother in Woolwich.

It reads - "Dearest mother, expect me home in three or four days after receiving this. 

Am on my way now. Love to all at home. Your loving son Jack." (Followed by many kisses)”'

Location; Italy










Picture; Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Faenza circa 1919, courtesy of Daniel Murphy

When Scarborough became an Italian story …………

The story of the German bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 is usually just a footnote in history books.

That said it will still be marked every year in the town, as well as on the blog,  and has become of special interest to David Harrop who has been collecting memorabilia on the event.*

My Wikipedia tells me that “The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. 

The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties and resulted in public outrage in Britain against the German Navy for the raid and the Royal Navy for failing to prevent it”.**

And that brings me to this small newspaper clipping which is undated and is really just a photograph.

But what singles it out as a little different from the news coverage of the attack is that it comes from an Italian newspaper.

The caption, “Case di Scarborough danneggiate dal bombardaento” which translates as “Scarborough houses damaged by bombing” is the give away and begs some questions.

These include, was there an accompanying story and just when was it published?

At this stage Italy was still neutral and did not enter the war on the side of the Allies until the May of 1915.

So it would be interesting to explore what the Italian media and the general public made of the bombardment, particularly because at the time Italy was part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and might have been expected to have joined them in the August of 1914 in the war against Britain, France and Russia.

I will in the fullness of time go looking at contemporary Italian newspapers, and follow up on what the historians have to say, leaving Mr. Harrop who acquired the picture the job of finding out the date and the source of the image.

Meanwhile I will finish by looking at the photograph in detail.

As ever the photographer managed to hoover up a few passers by who look back with a mix of curiosity and amusement at being captured on film, while the net curtains billow out of the window.

Location; Scarborough and Italy

Picture; “Case di Scarborough danneggiate dal bombardaento”, date unknown, from the collection of David Harrop

*The bombardment of Scarborough, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Scarborough%20Bombardment

**Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby

A kiss is just a kiss ......... postcards from Italy 1918

Now I have been thinking of the contribution made by the Italian community here in Manchester to the Great War and remembered this postcard from the collection of David Harrop.

It was sent by Fred to Flo and the army postmark is dated July 28 1918 although Fred wrote the lines a full month earlier in June.

Now Fred did not add his surname which will make it pretty impossible to identify him, but I may have more luck with Flo.

She was Miss F Hudson of 27 Nowell Terrace, Harehills Lane, Leeds and the census record offers up a number of possible women who could be our Flo and in time I am confident we will find her.

Of course the other intriguing thing is that the card was sent from Italy, and was “Made in Italy” with the message “The Kiss of Redemption.”

This shouldn’t surprise us as British army units were sent to Italy in 1917.

A year later Fred could say “I am still in the pink and hope you are the same [adding] How do you like this card? ‘Some girl’ isn’t she?

Flo’s reaction is sadly unknown and as yet I have no idea what happened to Fred.

But I bet both derived some comfort from a card which transcends nationalities and the centuries, focusing on that simple emotional message of two people separated in war.

I wonder if either picked up on the symbolism or just took it at face value.

After all a kiss is a kiss in any language.

And that is about it with just the promise of  more to come.

Picture; “Il Bacio dei riscatto” 1918 from the collection of David Harrop

A key ring .......a war memorial ........ and memories of a father in law

Now I must have seen this key ring countless times and never given it much thought.

But then as it was constantly in use by Simone I dare say the details missed me by.

One side carries an image of an angel over a field of crosses with the dates 1915-1918, and the other the words “SACRARRIO DEI CADUTI DI REDIPUGLIA”.

My Wikipedia tell me that "The military shrine of Redipuglia is a monumental military cemetery located in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , in Redi Puglia , in the province of Gorizia . Built in the Fascist era and inaugurated in the presence of Benito Mussolini on 18 September 1938 , it contains the remains of over 100,000 Italian soldiers who died during the First World War . 

It is the centrepiece of a commemorative park of over 100 hectares which includes a part of the Gorizia - Monfalconese Karst (theatre during the Great War of the hard battles of the Isonzo ) with the enormous dimensions of the area involved which make it the largest military shrine in Italy and one of the largest in the world".*

Not that Simone was a supporter of Fascism or Mussolini, quite the reverse, but the link is that Simone did his military service in Redipuglia in the late 1950s and must have picked up the key ring around then.

Its worn and chipped state is testimony to the fact that it was in constant use for over 60 years.

Talking to Simone years ago, he reflected that Redi Puglia which is high up on the northeast of Italy was a shock for a young 18-year-old who had been born and grew up in Naples.

It was where he first encountered snow, an experience he never forgot.

Location; Redipuglia

Pictures, Simone’s key ring, circa 1956

*Military memorial of Redipuglia, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrario_militare_di_Redipuglia