Family ties in The Great War

Hi all,
It's remembrance Sunday today and it is also 100 years since the armistice in 1918. We are remembering all the soldiers who died for us to have peace. I recently found out that my Great Grandad on my Dads side was in the first world war as a Sargent. We have a picture of him hanging in the living room, but I have never asked about it for some unknown reason.

I am telling you the story of my Great Grandad: James Gormley.

He was born in 1893 in Glasgow, Scotland where he lived with his parents. He went to the local school and left when he was 13 years old. He then started work at Parkhead forge where he saw someone get burnt to death which scarred  him for the rest of his life.
He went into the Highland light Infantry in 1909 when he was 16 years old, he lied about his age to get away from his abusive father. He was illiterate, but he got away with it by saying he was checking that the other soldiers could read and write and would also get them to write the forms on the blackboard and he would copy them down. An officer realised he could not read and write and helped him. He then worked his way up through the infantry and became a Sergeant.

He was 21 when the war started in 1914 he was given a unit to lead and went to the front in France. The infantry was wiped out and he joined onto the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders where he stayed till the end of the war where he got shrapnel somewhere in his body which suggests that he was either involved in an explosion or he was close to one going off nearby.

After the war, he was very poor and had to sell a lot of his medals to get by. We only have one medal left and some cap badges. He also showed signs of having PTSD, a lot of people did after the war, which caused him to drink alcohol excessively.
After everything that happened my Great Grandad did find love, get married and have children.

I now have a personal connection to the Great War and I will remember my Great Grandad for the sacrifice he made fighting along with millions of soldiers and will keep remembering him every year on the 11th November at 11am.

Cap badge

Cap badge

War medal (front)

War medal (back)

I passed my driving test!

Hi all
I am super excited because I have passed my driving test! Yay! This was the second time I took the test and I cannot believe I have passed. Afterwards, my instructor confessed that he thought I wouldn’t pass this time as the lessons weren’t great leading up to the test. (I didn’t think I’d pass either.)
I got 4 minor faults out of 15 which is very good. Before the test, I was really nervous and freaking out but when I got into the car, the instructor was talking to me normally and made me feel calm.
I’m now waiting for my lisence in the post and then I will buy myself a car; I saved some money and hoping to get a Ford Fiesta as my first car.

I wish all of you luck taking your driving test and don’t worry if you don’t pass first time ( I didn’t) as many people don’t.

See you all soon
Julia x