52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 3 Prompt - Favourite Photograph

 

2024

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 3

Prompt – Favourite Picture

I have taken a hiatus for the past few years. At the time I quit, I felt that I really didn't have much more to say about family genealogy. I also said that it was taking time away from researching my ancestors. As it turns out there is always something to say about family genealogy. I also did much more research for my blogs than I have done in the past few years.

Further, Jackie is working on compiling my 3^rd genealogy book which should be published in the next little while. This prompted me to rethink doing my genealogy blogs. I will start up the blogs again with the best of intentions.

'Favourite picture' is almost an annual prompt by Amy Johnson Crow. As it turns out there is always a new photograph that becomes a favourite. Recently I have been working on updating my nieces and nephews' profiles. It is a bit trickier doing research on living individuals. However I have found that Facebook has been an invaluable resource for this. 

 Recently I was looking at my nephew's Facebook entries and photographs. I came across a photograph of my father, Jacob (Jake) Peters. It was one that I don't recall ever seeing. I almost flew by it but realized I was looking at a much younger man than I am use to associating with him. At first I thought I was looking at a photograph of my brother, Robert. 

 The top photograph on this page was an Army ID with photograph. It included his name, rank, his military number, his height and weight, the colour of his eyes and hair. It also included that he had a scar over his Lt elbow. I never knew or heard about this before. He signed it and was finger or thumb printed all be it very smudged and most likely unusable. It was issued either March or May 28, 1943. Jake Peters would have been 26 years old at this time. To me he looks so much younger. 

 The next photograph was one of Jake Peters standing alone in a field in complete army uniform. The background is bleak and very cold looking. He is neither smiling nor frowning. I am pretty sure that this was probably taken by family prior to him leaving for overseas. He looks as lonely as the background that he stands in front of. Makes me shiver!

Next to the photograph is Jake Peters' “dog tags”, or military identification. I think almost everyone knows what I mean when I say dog tags. I did not realize that the family had his real tags. They are quite worn but you can make out his last name and military number and CDN for Canadian. I have read that at times they could include their type of blood and religion (P for Protestant and R for Roman Catholic etc.).

There is something so real with his dog tags next to his photograph. I believe that I have never seen these photos. However it could be that I have forgotten. It was exciting to see photographs that I have never seen before. It gave me another glimpse into my father's life. It was a horrible time to be a young man. His identification tags, paper Identification and photographs show a man standing stoically alone and about to embark on a life he can't comprehend.

Wendy