Remembering : The poignant legacy of war

Published on Monday 3 November 2008 08:56

IT is said a picture is worth more a thousand words.

But for one Edinburgh pensioner, the photographs he inherited tell a much more poignant story and carry with them a remarkable legacy.

Robert Johnston's uncle, Edward Taylor, was a soldier who was shot and killed in France in 1916 during the First World War.

The bullet was fired through the breast pocket of Edward's uniform, inside which was a wallet with four photographs of his wife Jean and their three-week-old baby, Ella.

The bullet pierced all four photographs, which have been handed down the family tree to Mr Johnston.

Mr Johnston, who lives in Craigmount Brae, Corstorphine, said he remembered hearing the story as a child. His aunt couldn't face being parted from the photographs, but couldn't bear looking at them either.

He said: "My aunt Jean was married at the outbreak of the Great War, and in 1915 she had her first baby, Ella. Her husband was Edward Taylor, and when the baby was born, he saw her for the first seven days, and then he was posted to France.

"Jean had some photographs taken of her on her own and of her sitting with the baby, who was just three weeks old at that point, and sent them to Edward in France.

"Sadly he was killed. When the war finished, my father, Hugh, was discharged from the navy and the family got together again. Jean received some of Edward's effects back and there was a wallet.

"When she got the wallet, she was absolutely amazed, because the bullet that killed him went clean through the wallet and the four photographs that she had sent him.

"She couldn't bear to part with them and she couldn't bear at the same time to look at them. She disposed of the wallet apparently and gave the photos to her brother – my father.

"It's poignant when you look at the photographs and see the bullet hole going through the four of them. I was quite shocked when I first saw them. You look at them and say, 'What bad luck!'"

Mr Johnston's father, Hugh, kept the pictures until he died around 1935.

Mr Johnston, who has been a widower for 14 years, said: "I remember my mother, Margaret, telling me the story when I was a wee boy. When my mother passed away around 1977, the family box of old photos eventually came down to me.

"My mother told me that Ella got married in Leith in 1938. I would assume that she would have a family, and her family and their family would be quite unaware that their grandfather and great-grandfather were killed in such circumstances.

"It would be interesting to know if any of the family are still in the Edinburgh area."

Mr Johnston believes Jean and Edward lived on Edinburgh's Logie Green Road.

It's thought that Edward – who was killed in his early 20s – was a member of The Royal Artillery.

Mr Johnston thinks Ella married an Edinburgh man with the surname Sutherland, who worked as a motor mechanic with Scottish Motor Traction (SMT).

Ella was brought up by her grandparents – Jean's mother and father.

Mr Johnston said: "In those days, the granny and grandad just took the baby into the family and reared them – that was the done thing."

The story of the poignant memento will feature on BBC Radio Scotland's programme, Keepsakes of Conflict: Remembering World War One, on Sunday, November 9 from 10.30-10.55am.

It marks 90 years since the Armistice was signed.