Nazi Medals Discovered in Attic
A Nipissing University history student is learning more about her late grandfather after finding a shoe box of wartime keepsakes in an attic — including Nazi medals and badges.
Robyn Clost said she was looking for letters William Jackson wrote while serving in Holland after the battered country was liberated by Canadian soldiers in 1945.
Jackson was a dispatch rider with the Brockville Rifles and part of his duties overseas included guarding German prisoners of war. After the Second World War, Jackson continued serving as a peacekeeper in Africa.
He died in 1992 when Clost was just four years old.
Robyn Clost said she was looking for letters William Jackson wrote while serving in Holland after the battered country was liberated by Canadian soldiers in 1945.
Jackson was a dispatch rider with the Brockville Rifles and part of his duties overseas included guarding German prisoners of war. After the Second World War, Jackson continued serving as a peacekeeper in Africa.
He died in 1992 when Clost was just four years old.
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"At first, I thought it was cool, and weird, and then I found these and thought that it's a bit disturbing," Clost said of the Nazi items her grandfather sent to his sister June 10, 1945.
Mixed in with the swastika-bearing medals and badges were pressed flowers, a photo of a Nazi officer, postcards from Holland and Glasgow, Scotland, a lipstick box, mechanical pencil and a pen knife, with a hand-written letter cataloguing what he had sent.
Nipissing professor Stephen Connor said the individual pieces are not as extraordinary as the context of what Jackson chose to send back.
"It tells us what he thought was significant, it offers insight into his mind," Connor said.
"He was not just collecting war souvenirs, he was telling us about his time there."
Clost and Connor went through the collection Monday afternoon. The history teacher said there was a touching moment when they talked about the connection she now has with her grandfather.
Mixed in with the swastika-bearing medals and badges were pressed flowers, a photo of a Nazi officer, postcards from Holland and Glasgow, Scotland, a lipstick box, mechanical pencil and a pen knife, with a hand-written letter cataloguing what he had sent.
Nipissing professor Stephen Connor said the individual pieces are not as extraordinary as the context of what Jackson chose to send back.
"It tells us what he thought was significant, it offers insight into his mind," Connor said.
"He was not just collecting war souvenirs, he was telling us about his time there."
Clost and Connor went through the collection Monday afternoon. The history teacher said there was a touching moment when they talked about the connection she now has with her grandfather.
Click picture for more information.
"There's a mechanical pencil and I said, 'Bill was the last person to write with it,'" Connor said, noting she is now interested in using it to write a symbolic letter to her grandfather.
He also said the catalogue of items was written with specific time-frames in mind, with his time in Great Britain separated from the war and being with the Dutch population.
"It was a very interesting experience," Connor said of going through the collection with Clost.
"Bill certainly had a sense of significance and chose things that would mark a place and time," he said, sharing what he was experiencing with his sister.
Connor said it's a good opportunity for Clost because she was too young when her grandfather died to learn about his life firsthand.
"Bill never had that chance to share that with her."
He also said the catalogue of items was written with specific time-frames in mind, with his time in Great Britain separated from the war and being with the Dutch population.
"It was a very interesting experience," Connor said of going through the collection with Clost.
"Bill certainly had a sense of significance and chose things that would mark a place and time," he said, sharing what he was experiencing with his sister.
Connor said it's a good opportunity for Clost because she was too young when her grandfather died to learn about his life firsthand.
"Bill never had that chance to share that with her."
Click picture for more information.
