Storyteller Tuesday Challenge: Favourite Find

Genealogy Matters Storyteller Tuesday Challenge: FAVORITE FIND

My favourite find is always the last one - in the last week I decided to research a cousin who had been killed in the European theatre during World War 2. I wrote about him at https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/2025/05/08/v-e-day-remembering-peter-leeton-kirkpatrick/

Left hand photograph: Peter at the time of enlistment into the Royal Australian Air Force (from National Archives of Australia A9301, 432819 Page 8 of 31). Right hand photograph: From the Kirkpatrick family collection uploaded to the Virtual War Memorial of Australia.

A wireless operator on a Lancaster of No. 57 Squadron (1943) From the Imperial War Museums, photograph CH 8790

In the course of my research I learned not only about him but also the pilot, a fellow Australian, who survived being shot down. I learned about the crew of Lancaster bombers and their roles. The missions these bombers were undertaking at this stage of the war, in particular to eliminate synthetic oil plants. I dived down the rabbit hole of synthetic oil production. I was saddened to learn of the slave labour employed in such plants. I also read an essay by a cousin who was researching why Sweden, a neutral country, would shoot down a British plane. By the time I had finished my post I had gained new insights into the final stages of World War 2.

Now I am contemplating my next research project and will discover a new favourite find.

I learn so much when doing my family history - it is not just about adding to my family tree but improving my understanding of the world.