GREAT SNAPS: Warwick soldiers read local rag on battlefields
INCREDIBLE pictures from 1941 have revealed a rare insight into life on the battlefield and the meaning it gives to a pastime many take for granted.
Warwick soldiers can be seen reading the Warwick Daily News during World War II.
Warwick RSL sub-branch president John Skinner said his father sent copies of his local newspaper from Hornsby while he was in Vietnam and he couldn't wait for their arrival.
"I had a brother who was a star in the A-grade football team ... it made you feel less isolated,” he said.
"As young fellas we got lonely over there, even though you had your mates all around you, it was a lonely time and lonely place.
"You couldn't ring up your brother and have a yarn with him, these days they do have mobiles you can talk to each other.”
Mr Skinner said he particularly enjoyed reading the local football results.
"Sometimes, if I was out in the bush, I'd be out for four, five six weeks so I'd open them all up and read them in order,” he said.
"It was something from home and it was talking about someone you knew.”
A message accompanying the 1941 pictures reveals the Warwick soldiers felt the same.
"Send the ones of us reading the paper to the Warwick Daily News to show them the old paper is appreciated,” it said.
