Berylouise Mitchell Photography
  • Home
  • Projects & Photo Series
    • Anzac Day
    • Birdsville Races 1990
    • Birdsville Races 2015
    • Black Summer
    • Elvis Festival
    • Covid-19 Pandemic
    • Garden Island Dockyard
    • Garden Island Funeral Ceremony
    • Life in Kypseli, Athens
    • School Strike for Climate
    • The Greek Crisis
    • WWI: Mementos of our Grandfathers
  • BLOG: WWI Mementos of our Grandfathers
  • Portraits
    • Working Men of Garden Island Dockyard
    • Men at Work
    • Fathers & Sons
    • Women at Work
    • Photographers
    • Family
    • Pregnancy
    • Babies & Children
    • People & Pets
  • Street Life
    • Athens
    • Paris
    • Melbourne
    • Sydney
    • Bangkok
  • Landscapes
  • Architecture
  • Abstractions
    • Vivid Festival
    • Crowdy Bay
  • Odd Man Out
  • Performance
    • Circus Oz
    • Musicians
    • Theatre
  • Still Life
    • Flower Studies
  • Travel
  • Exhibitions & Awards
    • I Like the Nightlife, Baby!
  • Contact
  • Links

WWI: Mementos of our Grandfathers

A blog over 52 weeks dedicated to my two grandfathers who both served in WWI. It commenced on 29 January 2017.

Contact Me

Frank Hurley, WWI war photographer

26/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Kerri-Jane Burke lectures HSC English students on Nasht's documentary film  Frank Hurley:  The Man Who Made History at Sydney University

This week I want to tell you about some of my “Hurley” coincidences.
In 1989, whilst studying photography at Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, my history of photography lecturer, Charles Page, told the class about Frank Hurley, Australia’s very own WWI war photographer.

The story that captured my imagination at the time was Hurley’s journey to the Antarctic in 1914 with Ernest Shackleton’s expedition and of how a big freeze trapped them in the ice for two years.  With their ship ‘Endurance’ breaking up, Hurley faced the prospect of losing all his large format glass plate negatives.  So after selecting only 120 Hurley smashed the rest in preparation for the difficult journey out of their predicament.

Then a few weeks ago on a visit to the historic village of Morpeth my recent Hurley coincidences started.  After an early morning walk and coffee in a local café, I had a chance conversation with the young barista who was studying photography.  He told me to visit The Photographer’s Studio before leaving for home.

The shop was mostly giftware, so as I was about to leave I glanced up at a slideshow only to see images of Anzac Day.  Because of my WWI photo project I couldn’t help but ask the photographer about the images, and told him of my WWI project.  He then showed me a copy of a photobook by local Newcastle policeman, Juan Mahony, The Digger’s View.

Mahony has collected thousands of WWI glass plate negatives, including some of Frank Hurley’s.  He has digitised and coloured a selection of the negatives to create a realistic look at the soldiers and WWI battles in living colour for the first time.  It was the last copy, so naturally I bought the book.  I have poured over the book but no photo of my grandfather, Harold, but there are several of his 34th battalion.

Later that same week through work I attended an HSC student study day at Sydney University for my employer, English Teachers’ Association NSW (ETA), only to discover one of the modules being studied for the HSC this year is Simon Nasht and Anna Cater’s documentary film, Frank Hurley, The Man Who Made History.

I was lucky enough to attend Kerri-Jane Burke’s lecture to the students on the film.  How extraordinary that this topic is being studied by HSC students exactly 100 years after Hurley was slogging it out in 1917 in the mud and blood with his tripod and large format camera capturing and creating such evocative WWI images.

You then cannot imagine my surprise, having listening to the lecture, to discover that one of the young ushers assisting ETA in the presenters’ break out room on the day, is related to Frank Hurley!

Lastly, before he died, my Uncle Bruce, an ex-cab driver for Manly Warringah Cabs, had told me that he used to drive Frank Hurley regularly in his later years.  I feel surrounded by Frank Hurley and wonder if he and Harold ever crossed paths during their time on the Western Front?

Born in Glebe in 1885, young Frank was working as a steel worker in Lithgow at age 15 when he bought his first camera, a box brownie.  By sixteen Hurley was already a darkroom expert and creative photographer, and by 20 a partner in a picture-card business.  According to Lennard Bickel’s book In Search of Frank Hurley published in 1980, Hurley was already displaying ‘daring, originality and imagination that were to become the Hurley hallmark’.

Hurley joined Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic expedition in 1911 and then Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated expedition from 1914-1916.  Afterwards on the Western Front Hurley clashed with Charles Bean, Australia’s WWI official historian, because he used composite images to create realistic scenes of the battlefields.

What I didn’t know in 1989 when I heard the extraordinary tale of the Endurance and being trapped on the polar ice, was that after being rescued and discovering the full impact of the war that had unfolded in Europe while they were stranded, Captain Hurley went from the frozen wastes of the South Pole to the horrific bloody battlefields of the Western Front almost immediately.

Arriving in Flanders on 23 August 1917, as the official Australian war photographer, Hurley was very near Passchendaele photographing on 12 October 1917 when my grandfather Harold was wounded!  I learnt this only very recently from reading excerpts from Hurley’s diaries in Hurley at War, published by The Fairfax Library in 1986.

In an article written titled Over the Top for SMH Spectrum 12-13 June 2004 on war photography Paul Byrnes writes that ‘Photographers have been faking war pictures almost since the first cameras went to war, but the blame is not all theirs.  The public hunger for war pictures fuels the practice and we demand that they get close.’

Byrnes goes on to say ‘Some of the most stunning images ……that Hurley took on the Western Front in 1917 are composites of several negatives.’  He quotes Hurley “To get war pictures of striking interest and sensation is like attempting the impossible…Anyone standing on the parapet of a frontline trench in daylight was likely to be shot by a sniper within seconds.”  Byrnes describes some of Hurley’s ‘tableaux of battle’ as being ‘among the most beautiful and terrible depictions of fighting in WWI’.

In his book Glass Warriors, The Camera at War Duncan Anderson shares from Hurley’s diary ‘None but those who have endeavoured can realise the insurmountable difficulties of portraying a modern battle by the camera.  To include the event on a single negative, I have tried and tried but the results are hopeless.  Everything is on such a vast scale.  Figures are scattered – the atmosphere is dense with haze and smoke – shells will not burst where required – yet the whole elements of a picture are there could they but be brought together and condensed.’

On 12 October 1917 Hurley described the mud…..”sometimes to the knee in sucking, tenacious slime – a fair hell of a job under ordinary conditions, but with a heavy camera up and being shelled……..shells lobbed all around and sent their splinters whizzing everywhere – God knows how anybody can escape them….”

And again in another quote from 12 October 1917 “Under a questionably sheltered bank lay a group of dead men.  Sitting by them in little scooped out recesses sat a few living; but so emaciated by fatigue and shell shock that it was hard to differentiate.  Still the whole way was just another of the many byways to hell one sees out here, and which are so strewn with ghastliness….”

If you want to read more about this amazing photographer and explorer here are some links: 


http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/people/frank-hurley
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10676415/
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hurley-james-francis-frank-6774
http://aso.gov.au/people/Frank_Hurley/portrait/
0 Comments

WWI "diggers" leave a Legacy for their mates

19/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Newington cadets hand our rosemary sprigs for Legacy on Anzac Day

Legacy has its origins in the Great War of 1914-1918, in Gallipoli, Palestine, France and Flanders.  Some of the men returning from those battlefields wanted to do something to help the families of their mates who had fallen.  One of those men was my grandfather, Lieutenant Harold Lilja.
 
I was working for Thales when I first made contact with my grandfather’s second family.  From my half-uncle I discovered that Harold had been heavily involved with Legacy in its early years.  As Thales is a national partner of Legacy I contacted the Melbourne Legacy office and they confirmed Harold’s involvement through their historical records.

In a handwritten letter from 1980 from Harold to my uncle Clive given to me after Clive’s death, Harold wrote that when asked by his WWI mate if he could nominate Harold to join Legacy his mate said “Legacy means every man who died left a Legacy to his mates to care for his wife and kids”.  Harold accepted and was elected Melbourne Legacy’s first Chairman of Committees and was one of their first Legatees.
 
Founded by men like Stan Savige, and on the ANZAC tradition of mateship, compassion, fairness and honesty, Legacy is unique in the personal contact its Legatee volunteers offer to spouses, and the special role they play as mentors to Legacy kids.  They provide support to families of the Australian Defence Force who have given their life or their health for their country, relying on donations and volunteers.  Legacy currently cares for around 70,000 families across Australia.

My grandfather was still a young man of 31 years himself in 1925 and says in the same letter that he “loved the wonderful men” in Legacy and that they “would meet in his office and would all throw in a bob or two to cover expenses” (a bob being a shilling in old currency).  Harold also says that he, Rex and Ray Hall “were the first three Legatee advisers” and that he and Harold Peters were “selected to receive and manage the first children – 145 of them at Anzac House”.  Later Harold went on to promote a Brisbane Legacy office (according to Melbourne Legacy’s history book).

I was told by my Uncle Bruce on his deathbed that Charles Kingsford-Smith used to come and visit his father Harold on Anzac Day and they would go and get roaring drunk together.  I always wondered how Harold and “Smithy” would have met?  After all Harold was in the army during WWI and Smithy the air force. 
Then one day in 2012 I was in the Sydney Legacy office when I saw a portrait of Smithy with his Legatee pin!  I can’t prove it but I’m sure they would have met through their work for Legacy.  Uncle Bruce said his father took him as a little boy to the airport to see Smithy and Charles Ulm, and that Ulm took him up for a flight.
Picture
Melbourne Legacy office in Swanston Street

Melbourne Legacy was established in 1923 and has 445 Legatees looking after 9,760 widows.  “The dedicated men and women who provide the care and assistance Legacy is known for are called ‘Legatees’.”  Since 1923 Legacy has kept a promise to help the families of our fallen heroes.  So far they’ve helped over 100,000 and stand ready to support a new generation of Australians who continue to serve in great danger.  Should the unthinkable happen Legacy will be there but they can’t do this on their own.  They need you!

Stan Savige had a dedicated passion to support the children of all comrades, and he developed a Legacy Charter that read:

“The Spirit of Legacy is Service.

The care of dependants of comrades who served in the Great War and who gave their lives or health, affords a field of service.  Safeguarding the interests of children is a service worth rendering.  Personal effort is the main essential.

Inasmuch as these are the activities of Legacy, it is our privilege to accept the legacy of the fallen.”


There are many practical ways that you can get involved and help keep the promise made in the WWI battlefields. 

Some of the work undertaken in a typical year by Legatees and Legacy volunteers includes:  taking 450 children on holiday camps; providing 16,000 day trips for widows; helping with 3,000 pension entitlements; helping around the house with 8,000 home maintenance visits; making 40,000 home visits and calls to the frail elderly; helping 1,200 families with financial relief payments; running 3,000 care programs for socially isolated persons; providing education support for socially isolated widows; operating 360 social centres; helping 400 families or individuals with intensive care management; providing 654,000 volunteer hours per year with a dedicated 24/7 service; and running 640 tutor programs for adults and children!

The Badge of Legacy symbolises in its torch the undying flame of service and sacrifice handed to us by our comrades in war who have passed on.  In its wreath of laurel, with its points inverted in remembrance, is the guerdon of honour; that is the meed of those who gave their lives for their country.

I was pleased to be able to honour my grandfather Harold’s commitment and service to Legacy by fundraising at Thales and raising $10,000 between 2007 and 2015.  You too can make a contribution.  Look out for Legacy volunteers on Anzac Day handing out rosemary and check out their website! 

http://www.legacy.com.au/
0 Comments

John Mitchell's final resting place...

12/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
As the self-appointed family historian I had been hoping to visit a graveside that might add some extra details about John’s life on his headstone, but alas he was cremated which surprised me for the 1950s.  I asked the cemetery why my grandfather was cremated in 1957 rather than buried, and they shared some of their history with me.

The cemetery opened in 1901 and the first burial was 7 month old baby Clarence Reardon in 1902.   Since Federation Springvale cemetery has played a leading role in the history of cremation in Australia.  The first legal cremation in Victoria took place in the cemetery in 1905, Edward Davies is interred in the C of E section.  Because cremation was cheaper than burial it became more popular from the Great Depression years of the 1930s.  Certainly my dad’s family were working class so it perhaps explains why John was cremated.

According to their website, Springvale, with its advanced crematorium and series of chapels, is renowned for its botanical significance, and has the largest memorial rose gardens in Australia and approximately 80,000 trees. The site now covers 169 hectares or 422 acres, and it is estimated that there have been 390,000 cremations and 139,000 burials.
When I started this year long project to commemorate my grandfathers’ service in WWI I realised I didn’t know where either of them were buried.  And to my knowledge I’d never been taken to visit their final resting places.

My Auntie Margaret had said that Grandpa Mitchell was buried in Springvale, Victoria but I had no idea where?  And Harold Lilja’s whereabouts were a complete unknown.  It was bad enough not knowing them in their lives, but I couldn’t let this year go by without paying my respects.

To my delight I discovered that Springvale has the largest crematorium and memorial park in Victoria and describes itself as a world class botanical cemetery – magnificent, diverse, historically and culturally rich, according to their website.  And that my paternal grandfather, John Mitchell, was resting there.

Picture
Picture

Besides my grandfather, some notable interments include Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor-General; Sir John McEwen, Prime Minister; Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Actor; Tommy Woodcock, Phar Lap’s strapper and eight Victoria Cross recipients – more than any other Victorian cemetery. 

I spent a lovely couple of hours there on Friday afternoon searching for my John Mitchell.  Even though I had his location listed as the Cassia Rose Garden, Wall S, Niche 411, it was not straight forward finding his plaque.  The afternoon was quite warm and the scent of roses permeated the air.  I had come so far to find him and it looked at first that I would be unsuccessful.  Unbeknownst to me I had wondered into the Banksia Rose Garden instead of Cassia!  So back to the office I went.

I don’t know what I expected to find but perhaps not quite such a simple plaque with just his name, birth date and death date.  And I hadn’t thought to search for my grandmother Elsie’s resting place before leaving Sydney so the best surprise of all was finding her right alongside John.  Elsie died in 1972 when I was only 17. 

There were so many trees, fountains and quiet places for contemplation that I didn’t feel as though I was in a cemetery at all.  And during my ramble looking for John’s resting place I found two fallen red roses with the most indescribable scent.  They are with me now.  Rest in peace John and Elsie.

Picture
0 Comments

March 05th, 2017

5/3/2017

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

    Author

    I am a social documentary photographer & the family historian. I like to share visual stories.

    Archives

    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    12 October 1917
    34th Battalion
    48th Battalion
    5000 Poppies
    7th Battalion AIF
    A Farewell To Arms
    Anzac Memorial
    Anzac Memorial Service
    Archibald Fountain
    Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders
    Arthur Mootz
    Ashfield
    Ashfield Boys High
    Auburn Gallipoli Mosque
    Austin Woodford
    Australian Light Horse
    Australian Light Horse Association
    Australian Postage Stamps
    Australian War Memorial
    Balkan Wars
    Battle Of Messines
    Beersheba
    Blanche Antoinette Hobson
    Books Of Remembrance
    Brad Manera
    Broken Hearts
    Bullecourt
    Callan Park Mental Hospital
    Caporetto
    Charles Bean
    Charles Kingsford-Smith
    Colonel Percy Fawcett
    Cyril Moroney
    David Livesey
    Dead Man's Penny
    Dirk Cardoen
    Douglas Grant
    Edgar Woodford
    Embroidered Handkerchiefs
    Embroidered Postcards
    Enfield Rifle
    Ernest Hemingway
    F90
    Field Of Mars Cemetery
    Francis Hocking
    Frank Hurley
    Frank Uther
    French Embroidery
    French WWI Medals
    Gallipoli
    Gilgai
    Giovanni Manera
    Gordon Cricket Club
    Gordon Woodford
    Gore Hill Cemetery
    Greco-Turkish War
    Harold Lilja
    Harold Wyndham Lilja
    Helene Van Deynse
    Henry Cassidy
    Henry Costin
    Indigenous Veterans
    In Flanders Fields
    Invergordon
    Isle Of Lewis
    James Aspinall
    J F Archibald
    John Hilary Lynch
    John Laffin
    John Mitchell
    Jordan Nicolopolous
    Karlsruhe
    Lancashire
    Lancaster VIC
    Lechard Lilja
    Legacy
    Legacy Week
    Lieutenant Lilja
    Lithgow Small Arms Factory
    Lone Pine
    Mary Eliza Lilja
    Mary Frances Lilja
    Memorial Plaque
    Menin Gate
    Mentioned In Despatches
    Michael Wilson
    Military Historian
    Morlancourt
    Mounted Police
    National Reconcilation Week
    Norhern Suburbs Crematorium
    Norman McLeod
    Oxfam Trailwalker
    Passchendaele
    Paul Stephenson
    Poelkapelle
    Poperinge
    Poppy Appeal
    Pozieres
    Private Thomas Robinson
    Private William Shirley
    Reincourt
    Remembrance Day
    RSL
    Rupert C McWhinney
    Sacrifice
    Shrine Of Remembrance
    Small Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle
    Souvenir Handkerchiefs
    Sphinx Memorial
    St John's Garrison Church Gordon
    St Thomas' Church North Sydney
    Sydney Harbour Bridge War Memorial
    Sydney Legacy
    Ted Ferguson
    The Cenotaph Sydney
    The Last WWI Veteran
    The Lost City Of Z
    Tony Griffiths
    Tony Lilja
    Trench Art
    Trench Feet
    Troop Horse Gallant
    Turkey
    Varlet Farm
    Victor Trumper
    Wal Scott-Smith
    Walter Hilary Lynch
    Western Hebrides
    Winston Churchill
    Woolloomooloo Wharf
    WWI POW
    WWI Stamps
    Ypres

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.