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from Roderick Eime in Iceland
This little tale reminds me why I enjoy museums so much. Especially the tiny folk museums many of the major tours overlook.
Once when I was a kid, we stopped at a tea house gallery near Gawler and my Dad sprang up in surprise when he saw a photo of his grandfather hanging on the wall.
Today I stumbled on a tiny cottage in the historic harbour district of Reykjavik, called Hafnarfjordur. [www.Hafnarfjordur.is]
It was a time capsule left behind by a prominent local woman who died in 1980 and decreed her house not be touched and left it to the people as a little museum. Quaint kitchen utensils sat on the wood stove, vintage furniture still in place while family photos adorned the sideboard.
As I surveyed the sepia-toned gallery of family portraits and candid snaps, something immediately caught my eye. It was a studio photograph of a striking young soldier in uniform. So what? Well it was very obviously an Australian soldier of the First World War complete with signature slouch hat and 'rising sun' emblems on his collar.
The obvious question: what was a WWI digger doing on a mantlepiece in Iceland?
The young lady who was attending the house on this drizzly Sunday morning put forward various theories. One was that he was an unfulfilled romantic interest of the spinster and only child who passed away at age 88, having never left her native Iceland. The same girl suggested the soldier was French, but I was able to quickly correct her on that issue.
So this handsome young man was not a son, nor a husband or brother. Also not a sweetheart she'd met on some international galavant. Clearly there is some research ahead.
The woman in question was Sigridur Erlendsdottir, daughter of Erlendur Marteinsson (father) and Sigurveig Einardottir. To further compound the mystery, Icelandic surnames follow a complicated protocol of adopting father's or mother's name and adding either 'son' or 'dottir' as appropriate. So, tracing a family line or looking up birth records is a headspin. The government, by the way, long gave up on names and deals with everything by number for official purposes.
I would be grateful if you could share this with anyone you think might have an inkling as to the identity of this dashing bloke from Hafnarfjordur.
UPDATES:
Initial searches pointed to this young man:
Initial searches pointed to this young man:
REISE, George (3670) Parsnon (sic), Iceland 20th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement (later transferred to 56th Battalion) *
Here is his file from the National Archives
Further research (Thank you Christine Edwards) seems to confirm the connection.
If correct, it seems George had a sister, Anna, who lived in Iceland. If she was close friends with Sigridur, it is conceivable she gave the photo (or a copy of it) to her. Apparently, in Iceland, it is not uncommon for friends to exchange photos of their relatives.
Whether George ever visited Iceland is not clear. His native Estonia has always had a difficult relationship with its powerful neighbour, Russia, and at the time of his enlistment in 1915, there were turbulent times at home. George and his sister may well have been refugees. His enlistment application states that both parents are dead.
His paperwork inconsistencies are likely due to George's poor (or non-existent) English and his reliance on others to translate for him. Piarnu is a large city in Estonia, not Iceland.
George survived the war, although badly wounded enough to be discharged as unfit in 1917. Just 21, the poor lad returned to Australia, likely traumatised, and struggled to find work. His paper trail disappears in 1948 at the time of his naturalisation as an Australian citizen.
* The 56th Battalion was transported to northern France and within a fortnight was committed to the Battle of Fromelles, where the 5th Division undertook a disastrous attack that was later described as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history". The 56th, along with the rest of the division, suffered heavy casualties but was not withdrawn from the line until two months later. (Wikipedia)
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