The Missing of Fromelles: the poignant story behind this perished train ticket.



The Missing of Fromelles: the poignant story behind this perished train ticket. 

After 250 missing Australian and British soldiers were discovered in a mass grave near Fromelles in 2009, their remains were carefully exhumed, and all their personal items painstakingly catalogued. 

The recovery team collected 6,200 artifacts from the remains, ranging from everyday items such as buttons, buckles and smoking pipes to more intimate ones such as bibles, rosary beads and lockets. 

These personal items not only supported identification of remains but also told poignant stories about their deceased owners. 

The item that most ‘strikes a chord’ with me is this partially perished train ticket that was found folded with a gas mask. After the ticket was dried out, it revealed some remarkable text. 

It was an unused second-class return train ticket from Freemantle to Perth in Western Australia that its owner had purchased in 1915 in anticipation of his return to civilian life. 

I often ponder about the young man who purchased it. 

Undoubtedly, he was full of enthusiasm and wonderment as he travelled on the train to Perth, yet blissfully unaware that it was propelling him on an irreversible trajectory toward death. 

For a sneak preview of my soon-to-be released book, go to link:
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761265976/night-in-passchendaele/ 

Excerpt from: The Nameless Names: recovering the missing ANZACs. 

Photograph credit: Remembering Fromelles: a new cemetery for a new century. 


We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". If you enjoy this blog please let us know in the comments below. If you are interested in history, we recommend you check out our other blogs here on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". Thank you for reading.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The massacre of the Isenschnibbe Farm: the fanaticism of the People and the scapegoat of the SS

Image
The massacre of the Isenschnibbe Farm: the fanaticism of the People and the scapegoat of the SS Where there is a crime, sooner or later, there is always also a scapegoat. The ideal scapegoat is never innocent, because this mystification would not mislead anyone. The ideal scapegoat is ugly, dirty and bad. It is the personification of evil according to the mentality of his time. Once upon a time, the ideal scapegoats were the "monsters", deformed people with a repulsive appearance. The well-known pathologist Pierluigi Baima Bollone, in "The last days of Jesus" explains that much of what we know about the effects of the crucifixion we learned from the examination of the remains of a young Jew, found in 1968 inside one ossuaries found in a 1st century tomb in Giv'at ha-Mivtar, near Jerusalem.  An Aramaic inscription tells us that they belonged to a certain Yhvhnn, i.e. John. John died crucified in the same period narrated by the synoptic Gospels. While alive, Giova
Read more

THE NEW MEXICO PENITENTIARY RIOT, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON FEBRUARY 2 AND FEBRUARY 3, 1980

Image
THE NEW MEXICO PENITENTIARY RIOT, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON FEBRUARY 2 AND FEBRUARY 3, 1980 The New Mexico Penitentiary Riot, which took place on February 2 and February 3, 1980 in the state's maximum security prison south of Santa Fe, was one of the most violent prison riots in the history of the American correctional system: 33 inmates died and more than 200 inmates were treated for injuries. None of the 12 guards taken hostage were killed but seven were treated for injuries caused by repeated beatings and rapes. This location was used by Adam Sandler’s movie The Longest Yard and the water tower still bears the fictional name, Allenville. (Note: it has also been used for other movies and is used for storing movie props today) These are the areas that are considered to be the most haunted in New Mexico. The accounts start in 1981 and have continued into the present day. They have been seen by corrections officers as well as members of the New Mexico National Guard. The most active areas
Read more

The execution of fourteen-year-old George Stinney lasted four excruciating minutes.

Image
The execution of fourteen-year-old George Stinney lasted four excruciating minutes.  The first attempt to electrocute the teenager caused the mask to slip off, revealing his wide and teary eyes for all the witnesses in the room to see. It took two more jolts of electricity to execute the innocent young man. Seventy years after Stinney’s conviction, Judge Carmen T. Mullen overturned Stinney’s first-degree murder conviction, stating that his sentencing was “cruel and unusual.”  Although the sheriff claimed Stinney confessed to the murders of two girls, no written or signed statement was presented. An all-white jury deliberated for only ten minutes and sentenced the black teenager to death. To this day, Stinney’s case remains one of the worst cases of racial injustice. This story originally appeared in True Crime Factbook. From Ted Bundy authoring a pamphlet instructing women how to prevent rape, a serial killer saving the life of a prison guard during a riot, to a groupie plotting Richar
Read more

THE MURDERS OF JACK THE STRIPPER

Image
THE MURDERS OF JACK THE STRIPPER He walked the streets of London and killed prostitutes. No, he is not the famous Jack the Ripper, but probably an emule of him: he was nicknamed Jack the Stripper. Jack the Stripper is the nickname of a serial killer responsible for the so-called "naked murders" which took place in London in the years 1964 and 1965. The bizarre nickname was clearly given for the methodology very similar to the serial killer that had shocked London in 1888. This killer also attacked street prostitutes, killing between 6 and 8 and of which naked corpses were found around London or in the Thames. The number of victims is not precise, because two of the murders do not correspond to his modus operandi. The confirmed victims were: 1. Hannah Tailford, 30, was found dead on February 2, 1964 at Hammersmith Bridge. She was strangled and when she was found she was missing several teeth. She except for her stockings, she was completely undressed. 2. Irene Lockwood, 26, wa
Read more

Battle of Bamber Bridge Jun 24, 1943 – Jun 25, 1943

Image
More history you were never taught in school. Battle of Bamber Bridge Jun 24, 1943 – Jun 25, 1943 On this day in 1943 black American soldiers faced off with white American Military police during World War II on British soil. Yes you read correctly black American soldiers had to fight their own white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting for the world. Why? Because the English town of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire was not segregated so they treated the black soldiers like all other races, aka blacks were free to eat, drink anywhere, BUT back in America segregation of blacks and whites still existed. So essentially the American army went to someone else’s country and demanded they adopted America’s racist practices So when the American Military police found out that their own black American soldiers were drinking at the same pubs as white people they went in to arrest them. The people in the town got mad about the treatment of the black soldiers and decided to then
Read more

THE HINDU TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT FOR SINNERS

Image
According Hindu religion, sinners are sent to the Various Narakas(Hells) by Yamadharma according to their nature and seriousness of their Sins. There are total 28 Narakas garuda purana. 1.) Kalasutram (Hot as hell) 28 Deadly Punishments Mentioned in Garuda Puran of Hinduism -1 CRIME: Disrespecting, torturing and putting elders & parents in starvation PENALTY: Sinners are made to run around in unbearable heat and drop down exhausted from time to time and are made to undergo similar treatment as they did to their elders. 2.) Sucimukham(Tortured by needles) 28 Deadly Punishments Mentioned in Garuda Puran of Hinduism -2 CRIME: Not doing good and amassing wealth by wrong doings and stealing wealth, not buying PENALTY: Stinging with nails and torturing with hunger and thirst, constantly pricked and pierced by needles. 3.) Ksharakardamam(hanged upside down) 28 Deadly Punishments Mentioned in Garuda Puran of Hinduism -3 CRIME: Insulting good people and involving in bad activities and defam
Read more

Killing someone's Soul ... Emotionally Dead has to be the Worst Death!

Image
Killing someone's Soul ...  Emotionally Dead has to be the Worst Death!  Bone Pointing ...  A strange method of execution used by Aborigines. Supposedly the practice never fails to kill despite the fact that the victim is never physically harmed. The practice leaves no trace whatsoever on the condemned. This practice is carried out by a Kurdaitcha, or a ritual executioner. The name Kurdaitcha comes from the slippers that the Kurdaitcha wear. These slippers, made of cockatoo or emu feathers and human hair are completely silent when the user walks in them. The Kurdaitcha will use this silence to quickly hunt down the person to be killed if the person has fled. Once the person is caught the Kurdaitcha will go down onto one knee and point the kundela, or killing bone (which will have been charged with a psychic energy in a previous ritual), at the condemned.  At this point the victim is said to be completely frozen in fear. The Kurdaitcha will then chant a curse. Afterwards the Kurdait
Read more

A LETTER TO ALL MEN

Image
A LETTER TO ALL MEN Dear Men, If you want to make it in life, you don't have to enter every HOLE you see. Some holes are dead traps. Some holes are destiny destroyers, business destroyers and life destroyers. My brother, do not obey your Erection at all times. Most Erections mislead you to wrong direction. Control your erection if you don't want to to have few days on earth with much poverty on you. It is not everything you see under skirt that you should hustle to eat, some skirts contain snakes that will bite you and leave you uncomfortable. Control your sexual urge. Self control and abstinence in most cases pays a lot. A man who can control his sexual urge is a man who can live many years on earth. Men don't know that some of their downfalls are caused by MULTIPLE girlfriends. Not every girl has a good spirit. Some are demons, some has poison in between their legs. We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journ
Read more

What was the most gruesome execution method used during the Spanish Inquisition?

Image
What was the most gruesome execution method used during the Spanish Inquisition? During the era of the Spanish Inquisition, which spanned from the late 15th to the early 19th century, heretics who were convicted of religious crimes faced severe punishments, including execution.  One method employed for executing heretics was garroting. This form of execution involved the condemned individual being tightly bound to a chair or post, while a rope or metal collar was tightened around their neck, leading to death by asphyxiation.  The garrote was intended to bring about a relatively quick demise by breaking the person's spinal cord or crushing their windpipe. It was a method meant to efficiently end the life of the condemned while instilling fear in others who might challenge the authority of the Catholic Church. During the Spanish Inquisition, heretics were accused of various crimes such as blasphemy, practicing religions other than Catholicism, or promoting ideas considered heretical
Read more