Quote:
Originally Posted by Dion
On Monday I will be remembering my grandfather, John Oswald Whitten who fought with the Brits in WW1. He was an Irishman who joined the Militia and later found himself fighting in France. He was later captured by the Germans where he spend the rest of the war in a POW camp taking care of the horses. After the war he exchanged his helmet with a German officer.
He got on a boat with his wife and and came to Canada where they settled on a farm in in Southern Manitoba. He kept that helmet in the root cellar of his farm along with his gun and medals he received. He would show them to us three kids when we come visit. Sadly all have gone missing.
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That’s a great story and really too bad that those items are missing. I wonder if there is some way medals can be replaced. Not replicas, but something official from the armed forces. I know it would’t be exactly the same, but it would still be nice to have for the family.
Also wondering if the exchange of helmets was a thing that was usual.