wow zen, thats great! very fascinating! rock:

I dont have a scanner but I can tell you about some of the stuff. Well I know that my great-great-great uncle (or something like that) Lost a leg at Bull Run in the civil war. My grandpa brought home a mauser from WW2, and a jacket....with a bullet hole in it and a little bit of dried blood on it. My other grandpa brought back about 4 or 5 Japanease rifles and a japanease flag. Its prty cool interesting stuff, and I just wanted to add that my friends grandpa fought in Normandy and won the silver star for hand to hand fighting and calling in artillery when the germans were overrunning their positions. I think that is pretty interesting.

Firstly, Apologies about the quality of the pictures. It was a digital camera i got for free, so bear with me.
[img]http://www.you-are-a-huge-nerd.com/public/freepix/wilkins-pa.jpg[/img]
This is my Grandfather from my Father's side, Private Lindsay Wilkins (later Warrant Officer 1st Class Wilkins, MBE). He joined the 2nd AIF (Australian Imperial Force) at the age of 16 in 1941, after being rejected from the Navy, for failure to provide a Birth Certificate (apparently the Army was less discerning about age than the Navy). He later went on to serve in the Pacific, Being recalled several times for medical reasons, being a few cases of Malaria, and on one occasion, a cut above his eye, inflicted by a Japanese Bayonet. He Served in the Australian Army from 1941-46, then rejoined again in 1951, until his retirement in 1977. Apparently, during the Korean War, he wanted to join up as a Paratrooper, however, this was derailed by my Grandmother's arguements ("Don't be so bloody stupid, Lindsay" :P) He was a great knock-about bloke, who was always happy to share a beer and a laugh with anyone, and for these reasons, he is the closest person to an idol that i've ever had in my life. Below are his medals:
[img]http://www.you-are-a-huge-nerd.com/public/freepix/wilkins-medals.jpg[/img]
These medals are generally service medals. The Third from the left is the 'Pacific Star', given for service in the Pacific during the war. The first one is a 'Member of the British Empire', or 'MBE' Medal, if you will. It was awarded to him for long service and good conduct in the armed service. He got it from the then Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, at a dinner at Parliament House in Canberra, if my memory serves. The above medals are also the ones i myself wear on ANZAC day each year, when we go to the Shrine of Rememberance.
[img]http://www.you-are-a-huge-nerd.com/public/freepix/wilkins-ring.jpg[/img]
The last item i have is this ring, which didn't belong to my Grandfather, But my Great-Uncle on my mother's side, John William McCullagh, who served in the Royal Navy during the war. Apparently, my Great Grandmother gave it to him on his entry to the Navy. During the War, the ship he was posted on (Ironically the mascot of my favourite football team, the "H.M.S. Magpie" :P) was torpedoed by German U-Boats 6 or so Times, and on the final time, the boat was sunk, and my Great-Uncle was left floating in the North Sea for 8 or so hours before his rescue. According to my Grandmother, the ring was on his finger the whole time. It's quite humbling to posess something with that much history attached to it.

I hope i haven't bored you too much, but hell, this thread wanted my Family's military history, and there it is.

NOTE: This is a better picture of the MBE that i found while browsing Google: [img]http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/content/collections/cmdp/images/mbe-l.gif[/img]

happy: now thats cool!

Well, I sat down and found more pics but my scanner is busted and the damn digi cam doesn't wanna load images off the camera(it's old and shit) but the pics I found is a pic my dad took of a huey up north before they flew to the north pole for for work(he was in the army) I picture of my grandfather grinning with the korean mountains in the backround. A picture of my granfather at the age of 5 in a cadet uniform, must be around 1930..and that's it.

Hey Wilkins, great pix, I also have some medals left from my Grandfather and Great Grandfather. You wear yours to rememberance service? I thought about that but then I thought I might look a bit silly as a 19 y/o walking in with medals from the North Atlantic 1939-1945 and some from the First World War. eek: I would love to wear them to the Cenotaph in London for a rememberance service, but I'm not sure what the legalities are of wearing medals whilst serving in the forces and when they are'nt specifically yours...

I have 3 SSers in my family, all shot eek: eek: eek:

I dont have pictures but my family(were going way back and I mean WAY back) had a castle in Ireland rock: They got it by killing inocent people then stealing their land and using the houses and stuff to build the castle. Its still standing which is tre cool beer:

Cool, I know a guy from California whose Grandfather was in the SS Totenkopf, now that is bad [img]http://www.gamingforums.com/images/smilies/dropsjaw.gif[/img]



[img]http://www.thulepublications.com/images/covers/totenkopf.jpg[/img]

[quote="Storm - Nazgûl -":2bc0f]I have 3 SSers in my family, all shot eek: eek: eek:[/quote:2bc0f]Really?What division?Holy crap the totenkopf lmao

[quote="Fluffy_Bunny":1556d]Hey Wilkins, great pix, I also have some medals left from my Grandfather and Great Grandfather. You wear yours to rememberance service? I thought about that but then I thought I might look a bit silly as a 19 y/o walking in with medals from the North Atlantic 1939-1945 and some from the First World War. eek: I would love to wear them to the Cenotaph in London for a rememberance service, but I'm not sure what the legalities are of wearing medals whilst serving in the forces and when they are'nt specifically yours...[/quote:1556d]

ah, this is something I know. If ther medals are yours, you're supposed to wear them on your left, but if you're wearing them in memory of someone else, you wear them on your right.