question ww2 army pay book found

[XWDV8]

Some time back I found this ww2 army pay book in a dustbin, has letters and photos from this mans home.

even national insurance stamps,

would be nice to find a home for this book, I dont wont to sell it that would feel bad, just find a good home.

 

can you help

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

 

[garys39]

Hi Phil, e-mail sent.

Regards Gary

[Tony B]

A whole life in the bin. Nasty! At least you had the decency to rescue them.

[Pete Ashby]

Iv'e just read this thread and felt moved to say what a star you are Phil,

Tony's right when he says 'a whole life consigned to the bin' very sad indeed, well done for saving the documents and the memory.

 

I have my Fathers pay book and papers from WW11 and they mean a very great deal to me, and I will pass them onto my son in due course.

I can't think of a better justification as to why we all spend years of our lives (in my case virtually a life time) and tens of thousands of pounds of our own money to restore and show our vehicles. In some small way it keeps the memory of these guys alive and the scarifies that were made to enable you and me to live the lives we do today

 

Pete

[airportable]

Hope they find a good home. A friend who does house clearances as over the years given me such groupings of pics. photo's etc. All saved from bins thrown there by folks who thought they were worthless, usually the family. Very, very sad. My oldest collection is a few letters dated 1917 from ? somewhere in Europe. Only ever started to read one, made me feel like I was prying, very sad letter. Stoped reading and never read any more, just keeping safe.

[N.O.S.]

....My oldest collection is a few letters dated 1917 from ? somewhere in Europe. Only ever started to read one, made me feel like I was prying, very sad letter. Stopped reading and never read any more, just keeping safe.

 

Look after them well!

 

For what it's worth - I once had to clear a relative's house and came across two shoe boxes full of cards and letters from WW1 sent home by the father. At that time I had no interest, but I made sure the collection went to the one relative who did have a very strong interest. However....

 

Some years later I mentioned this collection to the old soldier's Regimental museum - they were really excited and replied that these letters are in fact a far more valuable resource, both as display items and as research material than for example medals, which they are given all the time. Apparently such letters are frequently destroyed by relatives or those clearing properties, being considered too personal. I hope to get the collection back one day so the museum can have them.

[woa2]

Nice find, it must have belonged to a member of the ATS as the W before the number, I believe, means Woman.

[Tony B]

I was trying to think what HAA meant, makes sense now Heavy Anti Aircraft. A lot of those battries were crewed by women.

[XWDV8]

all the letters are to Bill Price ( Price W No.1822211) from W/191122 (Rene Price)

 

also I never read any of the letters did not feel right.

 

Thanks for the replys a member has said he would like this book, be nice to find out more about Mr W Price

 

Phil

Edited February 13, 2012 by XWDV8

[Old Git]

Some years later I mentioned this collection to the old soldier's Regimental museum - they were really excited and replied that these letters are in fact a far more valuable resource, both as display items and as research material than for example medals, which they are given all the time.

 

For a long time social historians relied on the records of 'worthy' middle-class institutions, such as the temperance society and others of that ilk, for their impressions of working-class life in Britain. This was especially true for the period of heavy industrialisation coming out of the 19th Century and into the early 20th Century. By and large the picture painted of the average working-class male was one of a brutish, alcoholic, tyrannical patriarch who abused both wife and children. Indeed, I'm willing to bet that if you ask the average bod in the street that this is the general impression that they will also have...so ingrained has it now become. However, with the coming of the 60's there was a a vigorous re-examination of British social history. One thing that played a vital part in this re-examination, and continues to do so, was the body of literature that became available as the WWI generation began to pass-away, i.e. the letters they had written home from the trenches. The general tone of all these letters show a British male population that was not only engaged with their families but showed genuine concern for their well being and future development of their children. You find husband's chiding their wives for telling him all the local gossip when all he wants to hear about is how well little Johnny is doing and if he's keeping up with his studies. So, you see these records are hugely important in clariying the 'real' picture of what our forebears were like and what their real concerns were. Had we not had WWI and the huge amount of letter writing that occured then we would not have this corrective to a distorted historical view of the working class British male and his familylife.

 

Incidentally, analysis of the diaries of middle-class housewives from the same period show that in general it was the middle-class and upper-middle-class husbands who tend to alcoholic, abusive parenting with administering of the cane a much more frequent event in middle-class households than it ever was in the working class households.

 

These things are important for more reasons that we sometimes aware!

[Rick W]

I would have thoght the first port of call would be to see if you can trace any of the relatives to see if they have any interest in having them. There is an outside chance that they could have been lost, stolen etc.