Brothers Alfred Button, killed in the Boer War, and James Button, who died in World War I.
IT is a picture of sadness, designed to give some comfort to a grieving family.
The composite photograph shows two brothers, both killed far from home. Above them is a hand-coloured Union Jack and the words "For King and country".
The photo is a treasured memento from long ago, when Australians saw themselves as part of a vast empire. It reveals the terrible impact of distant wars on ordinary people in Tasmania.
Its owner is John Button, 67, a retired plasterer from Ravenswood in Launceston, whose great-grandparents William and Hannah had 15 children and saw four sons go off to war.
First it was the eldest, Alfred, who was shot and killed in the Boer War in South Africa.
Then three more enlisted to serve in World War I: Ernest, Herbert and James. Ernest and Herbert came back alive but James died on the Western Front, at Ypres in Belgium in October 1917, one of the 60,000 Australians killed during the Great War of 1914-18.
"His name is on several memorials but his body has not been found and he has no gravestone," said Mr Button.
Two other family members also died on the Western Front. Monty died in 1917, and his cousin, John Joseph Button, passed away just three months before the end of the war.
John Button's father Allan was in New Guinea during World War II, along with an uncle, Bruce.
"They enlisted and served together," said Mr Button.
His father returned but was not a well man and died when Mr Button was just six.
In all, he counted 18 relatives, including uncles and cousins, who had served overseas.
Mr Button grew up with few stories of the wars they had experienced. Mostly, the survivors did not talk about what they had been through.
Only after he retired and started researching his family history did Mr Button begin to appreciate the extraordinary record of service.
"We must keep the light burning, because if we do not, succeeding generations will not respect all their efforts, " he said. "It is up to us to do so. So much has been lost."
philip.heyward@news.com.au
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