War & Ice…
As an 11 year old I was far too busy watching important cartoons on TV to listen to the ramblings of an old man…. my Granddad. To this day I am not sure why I didn’t listen, maybe I thought war stories would be as dull as I found war films as an 11 year old, maybe an exciting and plot relevant scene was ensuing on some awful Australian soap opera… what-ever the reason, I didn’t listen and to this day, long after the death of my Granddad, I have regretted that decision.
I have regretted that decision because those ramblings were not an older generations diatribe on the youth of today, or the state of modern Britain… those ramblings were stories about being on a destroyer in Iceland during the 2nd World War, travelling in stormy seas at -20, when ice had to be knocked off the deck to prevent the ship capsizing by newly trained, young and naïve sailors, who could only carry out the job for 20 minutes at a time, or risk freezing to death.
Those ramblings were stories of depth charging shoals of fish after having mistaken the dark shadow on the radar for an enemy submarine. They were about leaving a young family behind, to travel along the artic circle from Iceland to Russia protecting supply ships. The stories were about travelling to Egypt and abhorring the culture and climate. Borrowing 50 pence from a fellow recruit, but being too ill from food poisoning to travel on the return ship and missing the opportunity to ever repay the debt.
As a child, I missed out on a part of my Granddad’s life and on a part of history. I didn’t get to ask my Granddad how it felt to be a part of the war, what it was like to wave goodbye to a wife and young son, possibly for the last time, to travel to foreign climes, when travelling was far less common place than today.
I made the photo movie “War & Ice” as a tribute to my Granddad and to atone for not listening to his war stories…
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