I was born in my Granddad's house and spent the first six years living there. I was very close to him and he used to amuse us with wonderful stories although he would never speak of his childhood or of the Great War.
Thereis a well documented picture of Granddad and other soldiers, all blinded by mustardgas. They are staggering to safety in a line of human misery, each man clutchingthe shoulder of the man in front. It breaks my heart each time I see it, theymust have been so scared - some of them were just boys. Granddad was a tiny man,and a Lieutenant, so he wore a soft cap and was easy to spot.
Luckily Granddad's blindness was temporary, lasting for about 28 days, although he was always plagued by bad eyes and a terrible cough. Apart from that he led a very long, active, healthy life, dying of a heart attack at 85 years of age.
The photo of the bus is on the front of a post card to his brother, on which he writes of their shared passion for buses and of an attack by a zeppelin. He was a busman most of his life.
Granddad'sbrother, a well known shop-keeper, spoke more of his childhood than Granddad.They had lived in a large house in Iver, where their Dad was a coachman to theart critic John Ruskin. They had received a good education with the children ofthe house. My Great Uncle remembered Mr. Ruskin scattering gold sovereigns amongstthe children. I know Granddad was only unhappy as a child because of his awfulstepmother, and I wonder if his two brothers were actually stepbrothers, but henever said.
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