Truck photo revives memories of soldier who came home
A photo of Great War soldiers carried in our Pictures From The Archive slot caught the eye of Martin Eddies of Shrewsbury – because he thinks one of them might have been his grandfather.
The old photo, from the postcard collection of Ray Farlow of Bridgnorth, was taken by Heath Studio, of Prees Heath, and so the soldiers will have been from the Prees Heath military training camp during the Great War, with many seeming to be wearing the cap badge of the Welsh Regiment.
Martin says: "I believe that the soldier standing by the lorry in the bottom left hand corner is probably my late grandfather John Hinton who, luckily for me, returned, and married my nan, Sara.
"They had four children – two boys, Cyril and Jack, and two daughters, my mother Audrey, and Jean.
"My granddad was in the Welsh Regiment. I don't know which battalion, but I expect it could be the same as his brother Charles who was a sergeant who was killed in Flanders on October 31, 1918.
"After returning from the war my grandfather, who was one of 12 children, lived at 24 Station Road, Wem. He became a bricklayer, building his own house with the help of his brothers one of whom, Harold, lived next door. He worked for Tommy's in Wem and passed away in 1964, aged 71.
"His sister Nellie, who was like a second mum to me, gave me a postcard picture of granddad in full uniform saying that she knew I would look after it.
"It is now framed and stands proudly on the sideboard, along with a Westminster chime clock which was given to my nan and granddad as a wedding present. I well remember it in granddad's house.
"I would say that he was one of the lucky ones returning from the war, but he was gassed in France, meaning that he was on tablets until he passed away. I remember that he used to come to our house in Shrubbery Gardens for his dinner, and I can still recall seeing him putting one of his little green tablets into his mashed potato.
"I remember he was the first person to get me to try a drink of beer, one Christmas in around 1960. Mum rebuked him at the time, but he told her 'It wunna hurt him, our Aud.' I don't think I enjoyed it much at that time, but I took to it a few years later."
