Some of you may be aware of my fascination with my family's military history and may remember that a while ago I did some restoration of a photo of my late paternal Grandfather in WW2 uniform using Blackmagic.

Well, I have just got hold of a huge amount of photographs from my maternal side of the family and all I can say is 'wow'.

There are photographs dating back to before the turn of the century. I have now got medals from my Great-Grandfather who served at Ypres in the Royal Horse Artillery for the Suffolk Yeomanry and photographs of my Great-Uncle who died of his wounds in Flanders fields, as a boy younger than those I teach. I always post the Flanders Fields poem on Remembrance Sunday but now it's even more poignant for me as I never knew about this side of my family's history. The CWGC has his details and turned up this information; no-one knew exactly how he died or where he was buried but now we do. I intend to visit his grave at Bray-sur-Somme next year. Incidentally, his first name was Mapes. Does anyone have any information on this name? I have never heard it before.

Anyway, we also found some photographs of my Great-Great-Grandfather who was one of the last remaining itinerant shepherds of Suffolk. We even found a newspaper clipping verifying this information, as an intrepid reporter seems to have ventured into the fields to spend a few days with him for a story, living in his hut similar to these. I did a hi-res scan of one of the pictures and had a go at bringing back a bit of the magic from that time.

I have attached a low-res scan of the original and a low-res copy of the finished article.

See what you think.

Attached Images

	cps bw.jpg (64.9 KB, 21 views)
	cps.jpg (66.9 KB, 21 views)

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You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

"Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered are unhappy. Those who have given up both victory and defeat are content and happy.."