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David and Queenie York's World War Two

online resource
posted on 2024-06-05, 19:13 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

This is a story about my family in World War Two, told through letters to my grandmother. She was the daughter of a Royal Marine. She was born in Deal Barracks, as were many of her siblings. She was the oldest of 16, although they didn't all survive - they died of things like teething and coughing. They moved to the Medway Towns where she met her first husband. She had three children very close together in age. Her first husband was a sailor; he was killed at sea in January 1917. She was 23 and a widow with 3 small children.

In September 1918, first Annie and then Isabel died in the Spanish Flu Epidemic. She went to work in the Dockyard met her second husband - he was my grandfather. They went onto have 4 children. I have letters written by her husband and her children during the Second World War. They ask about each other. Her son (the oldest, George) died aged 25 in January 1941 at sea, just as his father had in the First World War.

As a mother, I can only imagine the heartbreak of holding onto the last letter I received from him.

History

Item list and details

1. Folder containing letters, memorabilia and photographs 2. Three medals and ribbons 3. Two medals and one ribbon 4. World War One HMS Versatile medal, referenced in letters 5. Passport issued in Montevideo 6. Seven photographs and ships of Suez

Person the story/items relate to

David and Queenie York

Person who shared the story/items

Hazel Diane Thorn

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

David and Queenie York are the contributor's grandparents

Type of submission

Shared at Medway Archives Centre, Kent on 8 November 2023.

Record ID

97368 | MED001