Met this morning with Anthony Richards of the Document and Record Section for the Imperial War Museum in London. It was nice to place a face to the dozen or so emails which have been passed back and forth over the past two years.
I brought with me all of my grandfather's military records, including his journal to donate to the museum. Mr. Richards was kind to sit with me so I could go over some of the more significant documents that pertain to my grandfather's military career, such as when he was seconded to the newly formed Royal Air Force, which Mr. Richards found interesting, and my explanation as to why he was seconded.
He agreed with me that my grandfather's writing and the way he described what was happening around him was unique. Also this was significant because there wasn't a great deal of coverage of the war until after the first year.
I was assured that the museum would keep his papers together under his name and at anytime we could, if we wanted, to have them pulled for our review. Although it saddened me to loose the last physical evidence and reminder of my grandfather, I know it was the best decision. Who knows, if such a collection of documents, and the story they tell, may find its way into one of the exhibits in the up-coming WW1 centennial event in the museum. Right now there wasn't much to see at the museum for it was going through a complete renovation to create all new WW1 displays.
We were invited back next year to visit the museum and Anthony would be pleased if we let him know in advance so we could meet.
Everywhere we gone in this city we have met very friendly people that have gone out of their way to help us. Today we stopped by for a bit to eat and my wife asked our waitress what public transportation we could take to return to where we were staying. She didn't know, but got the entire working crew working on the project so by the time we finished eating they had the route planned for us.
Monday we meet again with the people from the WFA to discuss plans for next year's visit
A compelling war journal fuels a grandson's mission to finish an unfulfilled promise
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