As Anzac Day approaches, Listener writers reflect on the enduring influence of war on New Zealand. These articles will run throughout the week, starting with Colleen Brown’s story about preserving family momentoes and memorabilia.
‘Dearest One & Only,” starts the letter written in pencil 81 years ago by Bill Wesch, while serving on the Royal New Zealand Navy ship Gambia, to his sweetheart Joyce in England. They married there in 1946 and Joyce arrived in New Zealand as a war bride the following year.
The letter has been read many times, the thin paper creased, the folds fragile. Wesch’s handwriting is small and precise, making the most of his available stationery. It forms part of a family collection in the possession of Linda Hogg, his eldest daughter. Hogg, who lives in East Auckland, is the guardian of the family history.
After 80 years of her father’s war possessions being stored in various folders and cupboards, she’s seeking a better way of looking after them. “Dad never showed us his medals, never spoke about where he had been in the war, never joined the RSA or marched in an Anzac Day parade,” says Hogg. “We never saw a photograph, or any of the items he brought home with him.
“It was like he closed off that part of his life for good. But he suffered from the effects of war. Such a clever man who achieved so much, but he died early, in 1985, from a heart attack. He was 63. He lived with compromised health from just after the war onwards.”
If it hadn’t been for her younger sister, Sonia Faulkner, suggesting their mother record everything she could remember of their father’s war-time experiences; they would have had little to go on. Joyce kept all her letters from her husband, and re-reading them prompted memories that flowed on to audio recordings made by the family.
Fortunately, Wesch (pictured above in a colourised print in then-Ceylon in 1944) was a perfectionist. All his photographs are in exact order, carefully inserted into albums using photo corners. They are annotated with clear explanations of who is in each photograph and their location, making understanding these items easier.
Forbidden treasures
Jane Goodacre, from Hawke’s Bay, holds up a small painting of her mother, Jean Boland, rendered on to the back of a postcard. It is flaking in one area, but the colours are still fresh and convey energy and liveliness. It was done on the long sea voyage to Italy with fellow Waac’s (members of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps). How many small icons from that era remain intact is unknown.
Boland died four weeks after her 100th birthday in November 2018. She kept her wartime memorabilia in a small trunk. Goodacre was forbidden to touch it, although she admits to taking a sneak-peak at a few things. Keeping all the items in a dark cool place has possibly helped preserve them for later generations.
Like Wesch, Boland never spoke of her time away or the work she did as a Waac, most likely nurse aiding. Goodacre has learnt more about her mother’s war experiences by reading her diary and looking through items left in the forbidden chest after her mother died.
“Mum kept so much from that period in her life – permission slips to leave her base, allowance forms, diaries, programmes from Italian musical events and operas. There’s a treasure trove of mementoes here, and I need to keep them safe for my children and grandchildren.
“We’ve only got her medals because Father Jordan [from St Patrick’s Church] in Te Puke persuaded her to apply [to the Defence Force] for them as a gift for me. A neighbour who was secretary of the local RSA had been in the same theatres of war and helped her apply for her medals.”
Goodacre has myriad items to work through in her endeavour to preserve these memorablia at home. She has no idea of how they fit into her mother’s life. Boland’s diaries might contain a few answers but without names and dates it is a frustrating exercise.
Both Goodacre and Hogg acknowledge the trauma both parents went through during their service overseas, but admit it would have been helpful to have had those conversations while they were still alive.
“My mother’s diaries reflect her social life more than her working life and the things she might have seen while travelling,” says Goodacre. Sometimes, her diary does give me a glimpse of her feelings, like when she went past Cassino after Italy had fallen to the Allies.”
Boland wrote: “Next morning – Passed through to Cassino. Could not help thinking of us riding in comfort along the same road our lads once fort [sic] on & where many made the supreme sacrifice. At intervals along the roadside were many lonely graves, sometimes a solitary one, sometimes in groups. On reaching Cassino we found quite a large plot, many Kiwis among them: Foggarty, LE Brown, Burrow, Garside & Harvey are some. I remember many more “unknown”. Some were “88″ Batt. Cassino is just a mass of debris & was completely destroyed. The Castle & monastery at the back were also ruins. A more distressing sight one could not imagine & how anyone came out of that place alive is a miracle.”
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To not only unlock the past but also to safeguard it, Goodacre and Hogg have come to meet Auckland War Memorial Museum’s principal conservator Cathy ter Bogt and senior collection manager Anika Klee to discuss what they can do to care for the items in their possession. The visitors don’t know each other but soon bond over their shared interest in family history.
Neither family wants to donate items to a museum currently, but ter Bogt is happy to answer questions about how to care for the collections. The two experts know broadly what is in the twin sets of memorabilia – paper, leather, textile, medals, photographs and a painting. The meeting is held at offices near the museum to minimise any risk to its own collections from insects or contaminants.
Ter Bogt and Klee tell the women that caring for collections doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
With any collection, conservation is about the science of how items degrade and how to slow or stop it. The museum has expensive lab equipment to help analyse and understand the quality and significance of items, but there are basic steps anyone can take for starters.
Klee urges people to understand their home environment and ask themselves questions: “Do you have a house that is hard to keep warm in winter? Does the temperature fluctuate a lot? Is there an area of your house that is more stable than other areas – perhaps an internal cupboard?”
Once those questions are answered, finding an appropriate space to store precious items usually becomes easier.
Non-reactive storage
Family history collections are vital for understanding our ancestors and the world they lived in. Ter Bogt urges people to think about what might be at risk if such material is lost.
A key piece of advice is to look for acid-free or non-reactive storage for virtually everything, including buttons. At the meeting, Klee deftly demonstrates to Goodacre and Hogg how to create small rosettes of acid-free paper to nestle military buttons. This protects the buttons from scratching or being rubbed against other, harder items.
Ter Bogt uses acid-free paper to separate out and wrap several individual photos from Hogg’s collection, resulting in a neat package easily slipped into an acid-free envelope.
Although Bill Wesch kept well-ordered photograph albums, the simple insertion of acid-free paper between the leaves will protect the photos from rubbing against or sticking to one another.
“In this case, it’s not so much about how the photographs are attached to the page, it’s about keeping this acid-free paper between each leaf in order to maintain the album,” says Klee.
Goodacre wants to know how to care for her mother’s kitbag and socks – the last surviving pieces of her uniform – and a leather compendium. The compendium is in good condition; gently wiping with a soft cloth to remove surface dust and storing it in a calico bag will help keep it safe.
Likewise, it’s recommended that textiles be padded-out with acid-free paper to hold their shape before going into boxes.
“I’m going to take care of the leather compendium first; it’s in remarkable condition,” says Goodacre. “Then, as advised, an unbleached calico bag for Mum’s kit bag – not a black rubbish bag strung up in the garage.”
Hogg will tackle her father’s papers. She has a straightforward but time-consuming task: inserting strips of acid-free paper between the pages of the photo albums. Her father’s letters will be carefully separated and stored in acid-free pouches.
“It’s the least I can do for Dad and for our family,” she says. “You look at his letters to Mum – such an important part of his life, just lovely. He often signed them off, ‘Fondest Love, Yours, Bill.’”
Following orders
Tips for safeguarding your collection
■ Wash hands with soap and dry thoroughly before touching memorabilia.
■ Separate out and group different items – photos, letters, textiles, medals.
■ Choose one group, such as photographs, to work on first.
■ Digitalise material at the same time as caring for it, saving time and minimising handling or repeat exposure to sunlight.
■ Label digital media such as USB sticks.
■ Record what is obvious about the item – “John Smith (granddad) service number 12345 in Rome 1944″. Add questions: ‘Who are the two NZ soldiers standing with him?’ Note how the photo connects with the broader picture of John Smith’s war service (this will help future generations to make sense of your collection). Stress how important the information is to the family.
■ Collections like to breathe; keep them in materials that allow this. Avoid using plastic as it can trap moisture, causing deterioration or mould.
■ If keeping items in plastic folders, buy clear, food-grade polypropylene, which has fewer additives that can cause problems.
■ Keep newspapers separate from all other paper material. Newspaper contains acids that speed up deterioration.
■ Wrap photos and paper-based objects in acid-free tissue. Small books, such as pay books, can be inserted into an acid-free sleeve or envelope.
■ Don’t touch photographs – just their corners or edges.
■ Photo albums may not be of archival quality. If keeping a treasured old album, place acid-free paper between the leaves.
■ Use photographic corners to insert photos into an album. Glues or sticky tape can fail over time and cause damage. Alternatively, use albums that have a polypropylene sleeve to slide the photo into.
■ Use archival pens, not ballpoint, for labelling. Pencil is okay on photos with paper backing.
■ Avoid liquids, PVC plastic, glue and Sellotape.
For more help, aucklandmuseum.com/discover/care/keepsafes has useful tips and videos on storing photographs, caring for medals, storing flat textiles and preserving garments.
