Violin tells tale of war sacrifice
CRAFTED in the trenches of Gallipoli, a violin made from a wooden chocolate box is a glimpse into the lives of those who crafted it, and the personality of the troops who served.
The crude instrument is one of several memories Legacy widow Margaret Pilcher holds dear from the uncle of her late husband, retrieved from the battlefields of World War I.
Ernie Pilcher didn’t come home, killed in France three months before the end of the war, but his violin, along with his diary dated from 1911, did.
Ms Pilcher is the custodian of the items, tasked with keeping not only the memory of Ernie alive, but also that of her husband Vincent who served in World War II.
It’s a special role that’s important to her as a Legacy widow, and one that’s highlighted during Legacy Week, which starts today.
It’s clear in Margaret’s eyes that she values telling the stories.
“It was all sent back after that war (World War I) finished and it was put up in the loft out at the farm and I don’t think he (my husband) knew it was there,” she said.
“When (my son) David was going to school, him and his mate used to go out to the farm with Vince and they climbed up into the loft and they found it.
“They used to hit one another over the head with it.”
The violin likely played its last tune in the trenches, with a matching bow made from camel hair now disintegrated and long gone.
The Pilchers, who lived in the Pentland district, were a musical family and the violin likely created a number of singalongs in the trenches.
Handcrafted from the box with Fry’s Chocolate Manufacturers on it, its significance is better appreciated today with Ms Pilcher hoping it, along with the diary and all its hidden stories will one day find a home in the Australian War Memorial.
Legacy Week is an annual national appeal to raise awareness and funds for the families of incapacitated and deceased veterans.
Held across Australia, funds raised during Legacy Week support 60,000 beneficiaries, 96 per cent of whom are elderly widows.