Family poverty following the death of his father when Walter was just one year old probably led to Walter joining the Royal Fusiliers Special Reserve in 1913 when he was 17 and served in World War I. His military career continued when Walter enlisted in the RAF in 1923, serving for four years, including in Palestine. And he was still young enough to serve in the army when war broke out again in 1939.
But life for Walter took a darker turn after the war.
What did you do in the war, Mummy?
Leaving school just a few months before the start of World War 2, Eileen became a telephone operator in the Civil Service and was one of thousands who worked to keep communications going throughout the country. They worked shifts to maintain the service 24 hours a day, often sleeping on camp beds at the telephone exchanges. They stayed at their switchboards in the midst of bombing raids. They were the unsung heroes.
But was there even more to Eileen Joyce Emptage?
There is a well used but nevertheless very apt saying in family history research, that it raises more questions than it answers.
And that is so true of the story of two brothers, three women and seventeen children.
We normally trace our ancestors by following the names and details on the birth, marriage and death certificates and confirming the details with reference to the censuses and it is generally fairly easy.
Well, it is as long as our ancestors behave normally, appear where you expect them to be, and have normal family relationships. However, if their lives were complicated, the research becomes rather more difficult.
