Granfer (maternal) had a mortar land close behind him in World War 1 and had bits of metal in his body and legs at the back....hundreds of bits...had trouble walking when he got older but would never talk about how many he had killed........Grannie, a lovely woman who like her odd drink or six of Sanatogen tonic wine and always for some reason had to go to bed after lunch as 'she could not carry on'
Grandad (Paternal) contracted sleeping sickness during WW1 and had a distended tongue. He could only stomach milky cereal products such as rice, semolina, tapioca and he too had the shakes as described by Bubblyrat..diagnosed as Parkinsons but attributed to shell shock by family. Gran was a very dainty woman who had love for all and whose skillet...a huge frying pan...used to come out over the victorian open range, when we visited, to make round sliced potato chips which were fried in dripping and salted in the pan.....mmmmmmmmm delicious! They had a hand worked pump to a well outside from which the most pure water came...in spite of this it was condemned by the Council eventually when mains water came through.....