Category Archives: Smillie family history

The search for a soldier without a name (part 5)-the mystery.

Posted on November 5, 2013 by

The shell came in low and straight, eight hundred metres a second and closing. It sped over the beach cutting between the loose formations of soldiers and slammed into its target-a Sherman tank. The explosion shredded the tank’s track, leaving … Continue reading →

Posted in Smillie family history, The search for the Italian officer, world war two | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Search for the Soldier Without a Name (Part 3) – Ten photographs

Posted on September 28, 2012 by

So here they are, ten photographs taken as trophies of war. Some of them are 79 years old, if the dates on the back of those photographs are correct. Black and white pictures that through the World Wide Web and … Continue reading →

Posted in artefacts from the attic, Smillie family history, The search for the Italian officer, Uncategorized, world war two | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Search for the Soldier Without a Name (Part 2) – An encounter in the desert

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

This was a foolish act that cost the Italian officer everything he had. Everything dear to him, was taken off him, including those black and white photographs I now have. That act took place somewhere in the Western Desert probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Smillie family history, The search for the Italian officer, Uncategorized, world war two | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The search for the soldier without a name-Part 1

Posted on August 28, 2012 by

The Italian with the sword has stared at us Smillies for two generations now. He stands proud in his uniform and his knee high boots. His kepi cuts his face at an angle, as was the style in the 30s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Smillie family history, The search for the Italian officer | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The ghost of a young man.

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

Every family has them, heirlooms handed down from previous generations. Each has a story. These are some of mine and the stories they carry. The ghost staring from the over exposed black and white photograph is the uncle I didn’t … Continue reading →

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When the census man returns. Part two, the mystery.

Posted on November 11, 2011 by

  Festus’s eyes had followed me for days. They stared at me as I walked up the street, and when I left the front gate. His eyes were on a poster, placed on a street lamp directly outside my house. … Continue reading →

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When the census man returns. Part one

Posted on November 7, 2011 by

  This post morphed into an article that appeared in The Star newspaper. That article was the space limited, Reader’s Digest version, this is the original in two parts. He first came knocking 170 years ago, three weeks ago he … Continue reading →

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