Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Dec 4th Christmas Cards

Christmas cards are wonderful things. I love finding a pile of them in my mailbox during the early weeks of December. Sadly, it's too often that this is the only time we hear from some distant relatives and friends.  We hang ours on a pantry door in the kitchen, enjoying them through the month and adding to them everytime we get another greeting in the mail. In my parents home we did a similar thing, there was a louvered door in their kitchen and the cards easily slipped through it, overlapping each other and filling the door throughout the season.

Now that I have my own family, I do send cards every year to close friends and family. My Mom always sent cards - when I was old enough to help I seem to remember hundreds of them - possibly I just didn't want to help and the task seemed endless :) My own family now sends about 30-40 cards a year.

What do you do with them when Christmas is over? I'm sure that there are some who pack them away every year and others who simply keep any photos sent and drop the cards in the trash. Thankfully, my great-grandmother Margaret McCann Bellew kept some very special Christmas greetings sent from her husband John Bellew while they were apart - she in England with two children and her husband here in the US with another of their sons, building their new life.

While these cards are not what we see today in typical Christmas design, they are beautiful and contained hand-written notes of Christmas greetings from her husband and a son that went ahead with him to the US.

I was unable to scan these cards - they are not made of paper, but rather the fronts are some type of plastic material that is very fragile at this point, so I photographed them some time ago, and they have been put away for safe keeping. The embroidered one in the back appears to have more of a Christmas design and the greeting inside is as follows:

From Your Loving Husband and Son Willie

To Wife and Children
25th Dec 1923

When she finally joined her husband in the US, Margaret had the terrible misfortune of leaving one of her sons (John) in England. This must have torn at her heart for her entire life. When he was older, he sent Christmas greetings from England to his parents:

After seeing these cards in Margaret's things, I knew that she loved them and I will hang onto them and preserve them as best I can for future generations.

Military Monday - Comparing WWII Journals

Researching my Grandfather's WWII history has been a very rewarding endeavor for me.  Looking for the records, finding his discharge paperwork, obtaining his medals, reviewing hometown newspapers for information - all of these things were very worth while.  Lucky for me, he kept a bit of a journal during his time in the Army Air Force and noted the dates he flew on missions, what the target was, the flying altitude, and other details about the weather and enemy fighters encountered etc.  This gave me more of the story behind his time in England, but didn't offer up many details in the way of actual "stories" of his missions.

I was contacted by another researcher last fall for more information on his missions.  It seems our two Granddads had fought together.   He was interested in the journal, to enable him to order mission reports for specific dates.  I provided the information I could and one entry intrigued me (below) and I asked that if he did get mission reports would he mind sharing information with me on this particular mission.

June 25th, 1944 - 16th mission
Target - X
300-500 feet
light flak
2 FW 190S Fighters
9 hours 

About a week ago I received an email from the other researcher. Seems he's been doing his homework and reaching out to others in the same squadron. Luckily, a family member of another serviceman in the same squadron had yet another journal - with an entry for the same date...

Ate at midnite, took off at 4 am for S.W. France with 10 parachute bundles of supplies. Dropped them from 300 ft. in a valley between mountains to the French marquis. We were so low, we could see the grateful smiles on their faces as they waved to us. The group was attacked by one FW-190, but P-47's chased him away. Bombardier (Moe) had a close call by flak. Flew as crew in 138 - new ship with only two previous missions on her.

I was so relieved to read that "target X" in my Grandfather's journal was actually a location for a supply drop and not one of their usual missions.  He wasn't looking down at terrified people, but other soldiers who were happy to see them.    All the official documents in the world can't offer up this kind of information - the actual experience of the individual.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Dec 4 - Christmas Cards

Christmas cards are wonderful things.  I love finding a pile of them in my mailbox usually beginning during the early weeks of December.  We hang ours on a pantry door in the kitchen, enjoying them through the month and adding to them everytime another greeting comes in the mail.    In my parents home we did a similar thing, there was a louvered door in their kitchen and the cards easily slipped through it, overlapping each other and filling the door throughout the season.

Now that I have my own family, I do send cards every year to close friends and family.  My Mom always sent cards - when I was old enough to help I seem to remember hundreds of them - possibly I just didn't want to help and the task seemed endless :)    My own family now sends about 50-60 cards a year.

What do you do with them when Christmas is over?   I'm sure that there are some who pack them away every year and others who simply keep any photos sent and drop the cards in the trash.  Thankfully, my great-grandmother Margaret McCann Bellew did not do this and kept some very special Christmas greetings sent from her husband John Bellew while they were apart - she in England with two children and her husband here in the US building their new life.

While all of these cards are not what we see today in typical Christmas design, they are beautiful and contained hand-written notes of Christmas greetings from her husband and a son that went ahead with him to the US.

I was unable to scan these cards - they are not made of paper, but rather the fronts are some type of plastic material that is very fragile at this point, so I photographed them some time ago, and they have been put away for safe keeping.  The embroidered one in the back appears to have more of a Christmas design and the greeting inside is as follows:

From Your Loving Husband and Son Willie

To Wife and Children
25th Dec 1923

Having finally joined he husband in the US, Margaret had the terrible misfortune of leaving one of her sons (John) in England.  This must have torn at her heart for her entire life.   When he was older, he sent Christmas greetings from England to his parents:

After seeing these cards in Margaret's things, I knew that she loved them and I will hang onto them and preserve them as best I can for future generations. 

I Think We Need "The Locator" Troy Dunn

As I trudge along with my research, exploring new connections, finding cousins and just enjoying the hunt one nagging question keeps coming up with my Mom and Grandmother.. "What ever happened to Hugh?   Can you find out where he went?  Have you gotten any leads?"    the answer is always the same...   "No, I can't find a thing on this man!"

I have been posting to message boards, family forums, name specific areas on the web...  n o t h i n g!   I do regular searches, hoping to somehow magically find him in the databases.... n o t h i n g!!!   great big zero, zilch...  did this man exist?  I've been looking for 15 years! 

So, as fall is here and I've again been looking, maybe posting AGAIN to the message boards and forums, the question remains...   What happend to Hugh Bellew?   As you can see on the right of my blog, I've all but begged for someone to help.  Someone, somewhere must have come across this fellow. A search of the web produces lots of hits - most of them my message board postings from over the years.   He is surely passed on by now...  but who knows?    Born in 1916, he'd be 94 this year.   How does someone just drop off the radar?   The family last heard from him in the 50s.  To their knowledge he wasn't married...  maybe he never had any children - again, who knows?   Maybe he changed his name. Maybe he was killed in an accident and didn't have identification.  Maybe he left the country and we're not looking in the right places.  Maybe...   we need "The Locator", do you think Troy could find him?  Aside from hiring a private eye, we're at a loss.

Military Monday - The Air Medal & Oak Leaf Cluster

I have written often about my grandfather William Patrick Bellew's time in WWII and my fight to get replacements of his medals from the military.   I have been doing a bit of research on those medals - their criteria specifically, that I wanted to share, and show the documents received when they were awarded to him

This is my grandfather's air medal, awarded on 29 March 1944.
When the Air Medal was awarded to him, he received a slip of paper which he sent home to my Grandmother.    Here's the document:



A couple of questions came up when I found this (isn't that always the way for us?)   I knew that he was part of the 331st bomb squadron, yet someone crossed that out and put "333" just below it.  Also, at the top right corner it states "for five missions" and the "five" is crossed out and in the details it states that he is awarded this medal "For exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in seperate bomber combat missions over enemy occupied continental Europe".    While researching his military history I had found others who explained to me that yes, these were given after five missions, but others were awarded for the "exceptionally meritorious achievement" as well.  Having his mission diary, we know for sure that he flew his fifth mission on 23 March 1944, so this could have been awarded either way, but I especially love the comments "The courage, coolness and skill displayed by this Enlisted Man..."  My Granddad was brave and cool!

The little Oak Leaf Cluster on the ribbon is for a second award - given instead of another full medal.    Here's the documents for the Oak Leaf Clusters he received :

Wordless Wednesday

 Have some more dad!  

William Patrick Bellew (b.1917 d.1975) and son Jack

Sunday's Obituary - William P. Bellew

Usually obituaries can hold a treasure of information, and this one is no exception. However, it also raised a question - one to which our family still has no answer - The Arlington Question.   I wrote about this when I began wondering why my Grandfather, a decorated war hero, wasn't buried there.   I have recently asked again about this and my Grandmother replied "They told me that he had to be killed in action to be buried there."    If you refer to the Arlington National Cemetery website requirements for burial, you will clearly see that this isn't the case, at least not today.  I haven't any idea what the requirements for burial at Arlington were in 1975, but have a feeling that they don't differ much.

I have tried many times to find the records from the funeral home, in hopes that they would provide some clue.  The funeral home was purchased by other funeral homes over the years, changing hands more than four times, each time being purchased by a larger company and none of the locations seem to know what became of the records from 1975.    I started seeking them when I found this announcement of his death in the papers that my Grandmother has saved.   This announcement clearly says what should have been true...  but I may never know why it didn't happen.

Treasure Chest Thursday - A rock?

What's so special about a rock?      Why do we have it?  

This rock is special. It belonged to a 6 year old boy, who left his home country in 1923 with his father.   Of all the things he might have brought with him across the ocean, we have this rock.

This rock belonged to my Grandfather, William Patrick Bellew.   When he left England his mother and two brothers remained behind for a few years.  When I hold it I imagine a young boy, with it in his pocket...  this rather large rock from home. Boarding a huge ship for another country, and holding onto somthing to remember the place he came from.  What surprises me more is that he kept it all his life and my Grandmother has passed it to my mom. 

A young boy's "treasure", and now ours.

John & Margaret McCann Bellew Family Scrapbook

I previously posted a few photos of this family scrapbook which I made for my Mother back in 2008, and another for my Uncle this year.  I wanted to share it again for the Carnival of Genealogy: Scrapbooking Your Family History.   The first book has been added to since it was first made, because of additional tidbits or photos found on any given person, and making changes and additions are easy enough to do with traditional paper scrapbooks.

When I began documenting my Bellew line, I was intrigued by the story of my Great-Grandparents, and their voyages to the US, the heartbreak of losing a son in WWII, and what became of the others. Armed with the information and a few photos, a scrapbook was born. The very first page was an introduction to the story, including a copy of the marriage certificate of John & Margaret McCann Bellew. The rest of the story just fell into place from there.




I started with their journey - passenger lists, photos of where they departed, a postcard of the ship and correspondence between John & Margaret during their time apart

Two pages followed, showing census records, photos from the mills, city directories, and churches where the family attended Mass.

I also created a page for each of them individually, giving information on their parents, their place of birth, death etc.

I then created pages for each of their sons.  Some had more than others, depending on the information available to put into the book.   My Grandfather, William Bellew had the most pages of course (9 in total), and I included all information I could find on each of his three brothers.

This was a very rewarding project in two ways;  it brought life to all the documents and the story they can tell, and it's something that can be passed down to later generations of the family.

Tombstone Tuesday

Another wonderful gift from a cousin found by blogging.   This showed up in my email box yesterday - just in time for Tombstone Tuesday. 

This stone is located in Preston Cemetery, in the town of Preston, Lancashire, England.  Following are the ancestors listed:

Catherine (McDermott) Bellew (my 3rd great grandmother);  b. 1837, d. April 7, 1898

James Bellew, son of Catherine;  b. 1869, d. Aug 1870

Mary Bellew, daughter of Patrick Bellew, granddaughter of Catherine;  b. 1897, d. Aug 13, 1898 

James Bellew, husband of Catherine (my 3rd great grandfather); b. 1834, d. Oct 15, 1905

Mary (Bellew) Sharples, daughter of Catherine and James (my 2nd great grand aunt)  b. abt 1866, d. Feb 25, 1939

George Sharples, husband of Mary Bellew Sharples, b. abt 1868 (I cannot make out the death date on this stone but it appears he was 72 or 77 years old so that would be abt. 1940-1945)

One War....

Two Brothers....    Two Countries....    Two Sets of WWII Medals

I must say, I am very pleased that I made a trip to the post office this morning.  It's chilly here (still) and the sky is gray and wet, the air damp and rainy. I'd much rather be reading blogs and drinking a hot cup of coffee.  But I received a slip in my box at home -  there is a package at the PO and I didn't recognize the name nor did I recall ordering anything so off we go to "town". 

The Postman retrieved the package from the back, but couldn't hand it to me - there were formalities?   I see the Royal Mail post mark on a small bubble-wrap type package "Is that from England?" I ask,  of course it is!!!   At this point I couldn't even hear him speaking to me, what was he asking for?   Why did I need to sign something?   Why do I need to write my address?   Excuse me, do you have a letter opener?  I need to open that right away!!!   

I'm not going to bash our military's way of going about the business of issuing or re-issuing medals to families (although I do have a few choice words for them on making the process easier) but I will say that our friends in England  have a good  hold on the situation and here, in only one month's time I have received the medals for an Uncle who was killed in the war.  Receiving them gives me mixed emotions, while I am elated to have them, I am saddened that it took his family so long to realize that he was due something and no one tried to get them on his behalf.   I've not done any research on these medals or what they were awarded for, I will do that at a later time, right now I just want to share the news that they've been received.

If you didn't see it before, I had previously obtained my Grandfather's WWII medals from our military.    His brother John was left in England when he was a boy, too ill to make the trip across the ocean.  He remained there with other family members and entered the British Army to fight in WWII.  Sadly he was killed in action in 1940 at the young age of 21.   My Grandfather was then determined to fight as well, only he was here and entered the US Army Air Force.  He was wounded in action and returned home in 1944.   His medals were misplaced or lost some many years ago and I made it my mission to obtain replacements from the military for my grandmother (who is still living at the ripe age of 92).

John was a bit of a mystery to us.  His mother never spoke much of him, but when I obtained the items that she left behind I found that she did have a strong connection to this son, and a broken heart that kept her from discussing it.  It must've been very hard for her to leave him there.  I wish I could tell her that his medals are now where they belong - with his family.

Wordless Wednesday

Dorothy and William Bellew   

Military Monday - Two Brothers, Two Armies.. Two sets of medals?

If you read my blog, you already know that I went through a very long, red-tape-filled process to get replacement medals for my Grandfather who fought and was wounded fighting with the US Army Air Force during WWII.  If you are a regular reader then you also know that my Grandfather came to the US with his family, who had to make the most difficult decision to leave his youngest at the time brother behind in England.    His brother was another reason my Grandfather joined the war, wanting to "Avenge his death".  His younger brother John was killed and buried in France while in the British Army. 

While speaking with  my Uncle recently he asked if records were available for this younger brother related to his military time.  Honestly I hadn't yet looked into getting John's military records, and I decided that I would indeed seek information on his military service and possibly any medals that may have been awarded to him.   I went to the Ministry of Defence Medal Office website, where it states that many vets from WWII never claimed their medals, and applications are still being filed by them today.  Additionally, next of kin of those personnel can apply for medals as well.   Turns out that my Mom qualifies as a next of kin in this case, being the daughter of a full-blooded sibling to the soldier.  He has no other surviving siblings.  It is unlikely that anyone claimed any medals that were due to him.

After finding the necessary forms on their website, we have submitted documentation to the Ministry of Defence Medal Office in England and are awaiting word from them on John's records and medals.   It would be wonderful for our family to have the medals from two brothers who fought in the same war for two different armies.    Wish us luck!

Military Monday - Honorable Discharge

This is the Honorable Discharge certificate for my Grandfather, William Patrick Bellew.    It shows that he was discharged on Nov 28, 1944, at Fletcher General Hospital in Cambridge Ohio after being transferred there for care of his wounds received on July 29, 1944.     This certificate was obviously folded while it was kept and I believe he carried it with him for sometime.  

The reverse of this document shows the Enlisted Record for the soldier, which I have previously posted here.

Military Monday - WWII Crew Assignment

This is a document that I received from a friend who is very interested in the history of the 94th Bomb Group of the Army Air Force during WWII. Much of this group was stationed at Bury St. Edmunds base in England. This Special Orders document dated Feb 21, 1944 shows my grandfather William Bellew, as being assigned to the crew of 1st Lt. Floyd Butler, the pilot that he flew with on every mission in the war, with the exception of his last.

This is just one more piece to the puzzle in putting together the military history of my family. Many of these Bomb Groups have message boards and forums full of very knowledgeable members who can help you find out the information about your soldier.