Grief and Loss

 

The anxiety and concern of the family members of serving personnel was a commonly shared experience for women at home.  Sometimes the anxiety was publicly expressed, but mostly women's concern and fears were experienced in private.  Emotions were often translated into practical support for the 'boys', through involvement in organizations like the Red Cross, the Australian Comfort Funds and the many other groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While churches provided spiritual and emotional support, the spiritual world in secular terms became an important link for some women to their missing or deceased menfolk. This link, sometimes publicly acknowledged but more often not, was made in seances and with fortune tellers.

 

However, it was the knock on the door that women and family members most dreaded. The local telegram boy had the unpleasant task of delivering the news with a pink telegram.  Later, a letter from an officer might inform the family of the ciricumstances of the Digger's death, but this was by no means a certainty.

 

Women also faced the possibility of news that their soldier was missing or wounded. Sometimes it took months or even years for a death to be confirmed, and this ignorance, often despite many letters to the Department of Defence and the Red Cross Wounded and Missing records, undermined women's support for the war. Some women preferred to believe that their brother/son was wounded and had lost his memory or perhaps had been captured as a Prisoner of War, rather than face the grim reality of death. 

 

Many seriously wounded soldiers returned to Australia during World War I and were cared for by nurses, VADs and Red Cross workers at Rehabilitation Hospitals in the capital cities.  Some of the men suffered terribly disfiguring injuries as the result of shrapnel shells exploding, and their womenfolk had to deal with the their own response to the wounds as well as the men's "shell shock", which was often very severe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The government worked hard to acknowledge the sacrifice of the men of the AIF.  Sometimes local councils provided In Memorium certificates. The British government gave (most) Australian families of deceased servicemen a commemorative medallion, known as the Dead Man’s Penny. The bronze medallion represented Britain defeating Germany. The deceased solider’s name was included, but with no rank to show equality of each man's sacrifice. The Dead Man’s Penny was accompanied by a letter from King George V, stating ‘I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the Great War’.  Not all soldiers' families were thrilled to receive the medallion, arguing that their son's/brother's/husband's life should be worth more than a penny, and quite a number of angry families returned the medallion to the government.