I’ve got a little plastic miniature pint glass full of beer. The little beer part slots in and out of the glass, so it’s either full or empty. I think it must be from a old dolls house or model pub or something Anyway, the reason it’s special is because my Granddad used to say that there was a mouse that lived in their flat that drank beer. When we went round for Sunday dinner, he’d put this little glass of beer down by a heating vent on the floor. We’d then sit round the table and have our dinner. During that time he’d take the beer out of the glass so that when me and my brother got down from the table and went to investigate the pint of beer, low and behold it was empty. The magic of that beer drinking mouse who lived in the heating vent and came for his pint every Sunday was a really special childhood memory
I've got some good football memorabilia for my oldest but he's not having it until he's settled in a home and has somewhere safe for it. It's his first football boots, training tops for Cardiff City and Swansea, a pair of boots given to him by Frank Sinclair and signed by Sol Campbell, a photo of him looking confused stood next to Terry Venables (he thought his name was Tony), a Valencia top that he exchanged after a friendly game. There's other stuff but that's the highlights.
Lovely post mate ... I have several momentos of the old man and the old dear but the one that plays a regular role is the old man's badger hair shaving brush which I've used ever since he passed ... I know such implements would be frowned upon now but it was some small comfort for a 19 year old lad losing his father and is even older than me ... and it reminds me of the connection every time I soap up my mush ...
My Grandad was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp at some point during the Second World War. Before he died I’d ask him about it but he never really wanted to chat about it much, apart from a sword he had. According to him one day he just walked out and took this sword off of one of the guards there and left. Obviously this was bollocks and much more would’ve happened but it made sense to me at about 6/7 years old. I still don’t really know what happened but he is mentioned in a few books about how he ended up there. He used to keep it in a ****ing umbrella stand by his front door and i still have a scar across my hand from when I decided to test just how sharp it was when I was a kid. When he died and we went to sort his yard out it was one of the first things I wanted, also found another sword when clearing out his house which apparently was my great grandads from his time in the army. Have both and only real sentimental things I have
My old man was in Changi and like your grandad very rarely talked about, other than his hatred of the Japanese and North Koreans. During lockdown I did a lot of research and finally found his war records, bought a tear I can tell you, 3 awards for bravery, one in particular made me proud as ****
Yes mate and after visiting the National Arboretum, a few times and sharing things on the FEPOW website it seems a common theme. When I was 17/18 he did share a few things with me, one I remember about him saying the only Jap that showed any humanity toward him, he killed, as it was kill or be killed. I just turned 19 when he died, would have been good to hear more, in a weird sense.
