The camp at Tel-el-Kebir Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 in an ill-fated military operation intended to free the Dardanelles straits from Ottoman (Turkish) control in the First World War. The straits were of strategic importance as the sea … Continue reading Anzac Day then and now
My mother’s maternal grandparents were Irish. George and Susie Byrne came from Killarney, though not at the same time. Susie came first, when she was 16, with her parents and siblings, in 1877. George, who had known Susie in Ireland before her family left for … Continue reading William Byrne, trooper
The following was written by my father, Ian, about his grandfather, Charles John Holdorf, who I mentioned in the previous blog. It outlines Charles's military career. In 1890 he enlisted in the New South Wales Military Forces, and was commissioned in 1896. He had various … Continue reading Major Charles John Holdorf (1869-1954)
Last night I watched the WW1 film, Passchendaele. It is a film about relationships, and the effect that war has on them. Not just that, but it is about family and identity, a film that asks questions about who we are and the decisions we … Continue reading The joy and the pain of nationality
It is a cold, windy summer day in Dalarna, Sweden as I write, 19 July 2013. I have been reading a little about my great grandfather, Charles John Holdorf, born 1869 in Sydney. His parents were German migrants to Australia and he grew up in … Continue reading Major Charles Holdorf at Fromelles
Forgotten tales 