Re-discovering my great grandfather, Reginald Trevor: Letters home from World War 1

My mother recently received a phone call from a long-lost relative to announce the discovery of a collection of letters and photographs that my great grandfather wrote to his mother during his time serving in World War One. The letters, yellowed and crumbling with age, arrived to us bound with a ribbon, after many years of lying silently in an attic all but forgotten.

As we gingerly opened each of these priceless links with our past, our eyes and hearts were opened and history suddenly became very real. Having studied the World Wars in high school, I knew something of what I could expect to find, but what I found instead, was love, stoicism and some surprisingly human traits in my great grandfather that made discovering him again a truly meaningful experience.

I scanned and transcribed the letters, compiled old family photographs and trawled through internet archives to gather everything I could about this man, Reginald Trevor. My pride in him and his willingness to sacrifice everything for his country, has grown during this past week as more and more details have emerged. His uncomplaining and resilient nature shines out through the letters and what is not written says so much more than what is - particularly in regards to the horrific experiences he must have lived through during his time in Gallipoli and the battle of Pozieres in the Somme valley in 1916.

Throughout this hub I will share some of the letters and photographs that reveal some of what my great grandfather experienced. I see so much of my Mother and my recently-lost grandfather, my darling Poppy, in Reginald Trevor. Knowing how much my great grandfather endured in World War One, and what a legacy he has left through his letters, hard work and sacrifice for my family and our country Australia, gives me courage to face my own comparatively small challenges. I am so proud of him and quite amazed that almost 100 years after these precious letters were written, I am able to rediscover a man who would otherwise have remained as he was to me, a young soldier, quietly gazing out from a photograph - unknown to my cousins and myself, and fondly remembered by those who knew him. I only wish these letters could have been found before my grandfather William Trevor lost the chance to read them...

1. Rediscovering my great grandfather, Reginald Trevor: Letters home from World War 1 (current page)

2. Background Information about my great grandfather - Reginald Trevor - a soldier in World War 1

3. 18th October 1914: World War 1 letter - Mother I have enlisted for war

4. 23rd October 1914: - Preparing to Embark - World War One

5. 22nd February 1915: We have embarked - World War One letter

6. 20th August 1915: Letter from Cairo - World War One

7. 5th October 1915: Trench Rats! World War One letter

8. 2nd Nov 1915: WW1 Letter - Life on Lemnos Island rest camp

9. Christmas Day 1915: WW1 letter - Life in the Gallipoli Trenches

10. World War 1 Field Service Postcards from the front

11. 1916: World War 1 letter - Belgian refugees' suffering, experiences in Egypt and France

12. 3rd Dec 1916: WW1 Letter: Life in Perham Downs camp - England
13. 18th April 1917: WW1 Letter: Stretcher bearers, ships and shell shock
14. 14th Oct 1917: WW1 letter: The tedium of 'home service' in England
15. 22 Oct 1917: Wounded in the Battle of Pozières - the Somme: WW1 Letter home

16. Postcards from World War One - France