Category Archives: world war two

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

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Shaun Smillie

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 a soldier without a name (part 4)-what a picture tells

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Shaun Smillie

I almost missed it. At the time, Nelson Mandela was in hospital, and we in the media were expecting the worst. So an anniversary slipped by without me noting it. On June 26, eighty years ago a camera caught the … Continue reading →

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Chocolate in time of war.

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Shaun Smillie

My great uncle Morris Christie once had a tooth ache. It was World War Two and Morris was a South African prisoner of war in Poland. He was working in a coal mine and he needed someone to look at … Continue reading →

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

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Shaun Smillie

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 Shaun Smillie

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

Premonitions of death in a fox hole

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Shaun Smillie

  Private Dick Borain went to war believing he was going to die. He was only 24, but could sense death waiting for him in the desert, outside of the dugout that he shared with my grandfather. Their dugout was … Continue reading →

Posted in artefacts from the attic, christie family, south african history, world war two | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment