Sepia Saturday: Flowers and crosses

Two men in suits, yarning in the doorway of a coffee lounge. That's the theme photo for this week's Sepia Saturday. So of course I ignored the men and went with some of the signage on the wall.

On the left side of the photo there is a florists's sign that reads 'Wreaths and Crosses' and I'm following that link in this blog. In World War 1 a relative was sent an album of pressed flowers from the Holy Land and Jerusalem.  There are about 12 pages like those below. The album is about A4 size and has a cover made of olive wood. Some of the pages have crosses, some not. The flowers are in remarkably good condition and retain a lot of colour.

Also during the war a family member, David Ray Leed, was killed in France. This photo was sent to his parents.

David Ray Leed's cross, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

Private David Ray Leed, 23 Battalion,  Killed in Action Pozieres, Somme, France 15 Jul 1916;
Buried Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France.

About 15 years ago friends of ours visited the cemetery and gave us these photos as well as a pressed red poppy they gathered from a field there. As you can see, the cemetery looks much different now. It's under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

David Ray Leed's headstone, Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

At about the same time, between 1910 and 1920, this postcard was sent to a lady in Melbourne for her birthday. Now why would you put a cannon on a birthday card??? Even if it is covered in flowers.

Trove Tuesday: Private Leed K.I.A.

 Bendigonian 14 Sep 1916, p2

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/91387566

 

We know quite a lot about great-uncle David Ray Leed*, or Ray as he was known, because we have letters he wrote home from Egypt and France in WW1 as well as his enlistment papers from the National Archives of Australia.

But it seems there's always more. When I typed his name into the search box at Trove today I discovered that two months after his death two articles appeared in a Bendigo paper - one (above) included a photo and the other (below) a brief biography. His family lived at Central Mologa north of Bendigo. 

Bendigonian, 14 Sep 1916, p24

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/91387550

The telegram received by Ray Leed's mother.



P.S. The name RAY is actually a family name. It's the surname of his great-grandmother, Susannah RAY who was born in 1804 in Denford, Northhamptonshire, England.

*David Ray LEED, son of David LEED and Mary Ann ANDREW was born on 10 Aug 1893. He died on 16 Jul 1916 in France.

Military record: Enlisted 17 Jul 1915; Private 23 Battalion, 7th Reinforcement; Embarked 26 Nov 1915 on 'Commonwealth'; Killed in Action at Pozieres, Somme, France 15 Jul 1916; Buried Rue-Du-Bois Cemetery (Plot I, Row F, Grave 7), Fleurbaix, France.