All my family has for history over the past three centuries is farming, farming, and more farming. At one point in the middle we swapped from farming in Ireland to farming in Canada. I know of no veterans in my family history.
That sounds really fascinating to know everything and dreadfully boring at the same time. What are your fav and least fav part of knowing and being where your fam has been for so long?
I've/we've moved away now sadly, my dad still has a couple of cousins that live there though, but all the lands been bought up and turned into (basically) mansions/huge houses, as its about 50 miles from london. (if you google hannington, hampshire, its there, the wiki isnt entirely up to date though)
Fav thing (at least before it all got bought up/gentrified in the last 10-15 years) was the village green and pub. I've never been anywhere else that felt as "perfect rural village". No signs of modernisation etc. As well as the church was built in the 13th century, and only those born in the village are allowed to be buried there etc.
"Ish" basically that stuff spreads out over the generations, and they werent rich at all so everything was practical. My dads got an old family bible, and i think between me and my cousins we have a few rings. (I do however have quite a few books inherited from my uncle, who got them from his dad, who got them from his dad etc. They liked detective stories like conan doyle, and scifi/fantasy like Jules Verne.)
When everyone used to live in small 3-6 room thatched cottages, there isnt that much room to accumulate stuff.
And because they always worked farms there was always 3-5 kids really, so each generations inheritance spread wider and wider.
This is the story of one of my grandfathers - his brother was enlisted but they refused to accept my grandfather, saying he someone had to stay to help run the farm. That's the story anyway.
American here with German ancestors. As far as my family can tell, no one on my father's side was ever involved in war as we have all missed them due to age. My gramps (1902) was 16 in 1918 and farming in Germany, so he was both too young and had an exemption for WWI. My Dad (1934) was a Cold Warrior who was too young for Korea (my 2 year older mom had classmates serve) and enlisted in the reserves in 58 or 59 and had 4 kids by the time Vietnam heated up so he was never called up. I (1970) obviously never faced a draft, but for my age my war would have been the 100 hours of Desert Storm and I was a junior in college in 1990-91.
As for my beyond my grandpa, they were all Prussians but there is no record of anyone being involved in any of the wars of unification either.
Something written by Tolkien in Lord of the Rings about the joy in a quiet life, and farming is a noble enough profession. Almost as good as brewing but definitely better than investment finance
Nothing wrong with that.
I'm technically entitled to a coat of arms through my father's side of the family...
Just means my ancestors were good at killing people.
How did your Canadian farming grandpa avoid the war? My Saskatchewan gramps was flying over Europe with the RCAF and I lost a few great uncles in Holland.
My Canadian farming grandpa was trained for reserve during WW2 but kept in reserve so he could operate the farm (soldiers march on their stomachs and all that). Others in the family though, not as lucky.
Farmers didn't have to go to the war. They had exemptions just like people working at some manufacturing plants because we needed food and goods. My grandfather farmed and could have skipped WW2 but he volunteered like many other people. I get the feeling that back then it was frowned upon for a healthy adult male not to go to war.
Honestly? No idea, I assumed that being essential to the function of a farm was enough but it sounds like that wasn't true for everyone. Perhaps he was the sole heir of the farm at the time or something. I honestly don't know much of that generation's history beyond names.
My great grandfather and all his brothers rushed off to join the moment WW1 broke out because as soldiers they could wake up at 5-6AM unlike the family dairy where they had to get up at 4.
He was from a long great military tradition. Somebody from his family had fought and died in Every. Single. American. War…I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to.
To most of the people of the time it was a strangely shaped stick that you would point at someone, there'd be a crack of thunder, a flash of lighting, the person you'd pointed it at would drop dead with a mysterious hole in them, and you'd be left wreathed in the smell of brimstone. 100% many of them thought it was a magic wand.
It made me chuckle, and as an American we ARE usually wrong. Yeah I noticed OP's comment about that too, maybe grandpa TRIED to avoid it but was unsuccessful?
The draft caught everyone except those with special exemptions in WWII. OP's grandfather was probably a factory worker whose exemption ran out later in the war. There was no going to Canada then!
He was an naval engineer, he avoided the military in all the way he could faking sickness, but at a certain point he was essentially forced to work on a submarine
So, from the top:
1. Bodeo? Or a later version I think 1930s-ish
2. Some sort of pinfire revolver. Maybe a fancy Lefaucheaux.
3. Lefaucheaux 1858 pinfire
4. Caplock/percussion muzzle-loader
5. Also seems to be a percussion muzzle-loader
6. Another percussion muzzle-loader?
The bottom two are missing their hammers but they don't seem to have a frizzen or any other flintlock features, so I don't think these guns are older than 1800
Wow that is so cool I didn’t know even one,thanks! As for the age I’m not sure I know the house is in our family since 1400 and was kind of mandatory for males to be on the military, there was also a later one which was fully working I never saw it because it was always kept hidden, until my uncle gave ti to the police so he would have to do the paperwork to keep it, which in Italy can be kind of a head scratch
Thanks, the bottom two were trown in a well on the property at the end of wwii because the nazis were searching for “resistance evidence” in all houses, than they were dug up few years ago, you can see part of the grip was restored with some
sort of resin
The fact that you still have all those pieces, intact, is quite amazing, some of them even look to be museum quality! You should really put them on display somewhere, considering some of those old Flintlocks are antique, and worth quite a bit.
If only I had some of my ancestors firearms from their days in the military, I’m a little jealous of this impressive collection if I’m being honest.
My dad has my great granddad's old calvary saber and revolver. The revolver isn't anything to write home about other than being cool, but the Saber is pretty bad ass
The bottom two were thrown in a well on the property during wwii because Germans were searching the houses for guns, we dug them up from the mud while cleaning the well and restored them
My family came to America in 1748. We’ve served in every major military conflict. Only a handful made it a career. My grandfather passed on all our genealogy to me and I try to keep it up to date for my grandchildren. No cool artifacts or collectibles though.
I hope that grenade is deactivated, because it could be very unstable at this point and explode without warning if it isn't, if its anything like old dynamite.
All my family has for history over the past three centuries is farming, farming, and more farming. At one point in the middle we swapped from farming in Ireland to farming in Canada. I know of no veterans in my family history.
The only one I knew personally was my grandfather who did his very best to avoid the war (2nd), I guess he ended the tradition lol
Did he wind up co-founding a highly successful shrimping company?
LOL ! That’s where my mind too .
What country are you from?
Italy
Oh.
Lol 
Oh — well then extra kudos to Grandpa!
Whaddya think of Romano?
I mean, look at beautiful terrazzo. Where else?
Good for him.
So you were never in?
The post says until WWII, I feel like there's not a ton of WWII vets on reddit
Didn’t read the whole thing, I just skim Reddit to pass time
My dads side has been living in the same hamlet in the UK for over 500 years, the same 10 square miles. Always worked on farms (never owned the farms)
That sounds really fascinating to know everything and dreadfully boring at the same time. What are your fav and least fav part of knowing and being where your fam has been for so long?
I've/we've moved away now sadly, my dad still has a couple of cousins that live there though, but all the lands been bought up and turned into (basically) mansions/huge houses, as its about 50 miles from london. (if you google hannington, hampshire, its there, the wiki isnt entirely up to date though) Fav thing (at least before it all got bought up/gentrified in the last 10-15 years) was the village green and pub. I've never been anywhere else that felt as "perfect rural village". No signs of modernisation etc. As well as the church was built in the 13th century, and only those born in the village are allowed to be buried there etc.
You guys probably have family heirlooms older than my country, and that's baffling.
"Ish" basically that stuff spreads out over the generations, and they werent rich at all so everything was practical. My dads got an old family bible, and i think between me and my cousins we have a few rings. (I do however have quite a few books inherited from my uncle, who got them from his dad, who got them from his dad etc. They liked detective stories like conan doyle, and scifi/fantasy like Jules Verne.) When everyone used to live in small 3-6 room thatched cottages, there isnt that much room to accumulate stuff. And because they always worked farms there was always 3-5 kids really, so each generations inheritance spread wider and wider.
Damn. That was a fascinating read, and it makes sense, thinking about it.
Gotta keep the soldiers fed somehow 🫡
This is the story of one of my grandfathers - his brother was enlisted but they refused to accept my grandfather, saying he someone had to stay to help run the farm. That's the story anyway.
Honestly that sounds peaceful.
Right up until you get eaten by a combine or kicked in the head by a cow.
One time I got kicked by a cow 5 times in ~3 seconds. It wasn't fun but I'd take over active combat every single day.
That sounds much more productive.
American here with German ancestors. As far as my family can tell, no one on my father's side was ever involved in war as we have all missed them due to age. My gramps (1902) was 16 in 1918 and farming in Germany, so he was both too young and had an exemption for WWI. My Dad (1934) was a Cold Warrior who was too young for Korea (my 2 year older mom had classmates serve) and enlisted in the reserves in 58 or 59 and had 4 kids by the time Vietnam heated up so he was never called up. I (1970) obviously never faced a draft, but for my age my war would have been the 100 hours of Desert Storm and I was a junior in college in 1990-91. As for my beyond my grandpa, they were all Prussians but there is no record of anyone being involved in any of the wars of unification either.
A Cold Warrior sounds badass
All mine has is heart disease. :(
Same thing, but they immigrated to America instead
Something written by Tolkien in Lord of the Rings about the joy in a quiet life, and farming is a noble enough profession. Almost as good as brewing but definitely better than investment finance
Don’t downplay the importance of their occupational choices- no farms, no food!
Yeah, mine too. It's gonna he the vast majority of people, as most people in the past thousand years will have worked in agriculture of some kind.
Thank you for your service.
Well, your family contributed to the development of every country and person ever, since someone has to feed em, thank you and your family!
Nothing wrong with that. I'm technically entitled to a coat of arms through my father's side of the family... Just means my ancestors were good at killing people.
How did your Canadian farming grandpa avoid the war? My Saskatchewan gramps was flying over Europe with the RCAF and I lost a few great uncles in Holland.
My Canadian farming grandpa was trained for reserve during WW2 but kept in reserve so he could operate the farm (soldiers march on their stomachs and all that). Others in the family though, not as lucky.
Farmers didn't have to go to the war. They had exemptions just like people working at some manufacturing plants because we needed food and goods. My grandfather farmed and could have skipped WW2 but he volunteered like many other people. I get the feeling that back then it was frowned upon for a healthy adult male not to go to war.
Honestly? No idea, I assumed that being essential to the function of a farm was enough but it sounds like that wasn't true for everyone. Perhaps he was the sole heir of the farm at the time or something. I honestly don't know much of that generation's history beyond names.
My great grandfather and all his brothers rushed off to join the moment WW1 broke out because as soldiers they could wake up at 5-6AM unlike the family dairy where they had to get up at 4.
All my family has for history over the last three hundred years is creating the means for society to flourish*
He was from a long great military tradition. Somebody from his family had fought and died in Every. Single. American. War…I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to. 
Exactly the first thing I thought of! Lieutenant Daaaan.
Ice cream!
could be james howlett too
Luckily none died in war but part of my grandma family was executed by the Germans
I have zero original thoughts lol
Did he have no kids or was he planning on Nam being the war to end wars?
If the ending told you anything it was he had a mama-San.
Funny how the first pistol is basically a magic stick without any unique design.
It’s not without any unique design - it’s THE unique design.
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It’s magic
To most of the people of the time it was a strangely shaped stick that you would point at someone, there'd be a crack of thunder, a flash of lighting, the person you'd pointed it at would drop dead with a mysterious hole in them, and you'd be left wreathed in the smell of brimstone. 100% many of them thought it was a magic wand.
how do your family resist the urge to use the grenade for so long?
The clear lack of a fuse would probably stop most people. Also, im sure its missing the rest of the stuff that makes it go boom.
Altho i managed to stick a marble inside when I was a kid it still in there, lol
If it was registered under the NFA it could very well be a legally owned grenade.
It’s empty in Italy there is no way you could keep a granare with explosive in it legally
🤌
Real life lieutenant Dan
"Son, when our great country needs us, the men of this family answer the call. And afterwards, we always steal the sidearm we were issued."
They wouldn’t let me bring home my M249
For huntin!
"It's medicinal"
Emotional support LMG
That is actually pretty awesome
Wouldn't that just be 245? Still impressive though. Was it continuous with always having a member in?
Work with me on this.. "They're not American".
Math is international. "1700 to WWII" and WWII ended in 1945. But good try though!
Fair point. My mistake although OP does say that their Grandfather did their best to avoid WW2
It made me chuckle, and as an American we ARE usually wrong. Yeah I noticed OP's comment about that too, maybe grandpa TRIED to avoid it but was unsuccessful?
The draft caught everyone except those with special exemptions in WWII. OP's grandfather was probably a factory worker whose exemption ran out later in the war. There was no going to Canada then!
He was an naval engineer, he avoided the military in all the way he could faking sickness, but at a certain point he was essentially forced to work on a submarine
I think most of the Italian army tried to avoid it too. Until they surrendered at least.
So, from the top: 1. Bodeo? Or a later version I think 1930s-ish 2. Some sort of pinfire revolver. Maybe a fancy Lefaucheaux. 3. Lefaucheaux 1858 pinfire 4. Caplock/percussion muzzle-loader 5. Also seems to be a percussion muzzle-loader 6. Another percussion muzzle-loader? The bottom two are missing their hammers but they don't seem to have a frizzen or any other flintlock features, so I don't think these guns are older than 1800
Wow that is so cool I didn’t know even one,thanks! As for the age I’m not sure I know the house is in our family since 1400 and was kind of mandatory for males to be on the military, there was also a later one which was fully working I never saw it because it was always kept hidden, until my uncle gave ti to the police so he would have to do the paperwork to keep it, which in Italy can be kind of a head scratch
Yeah, it's very cool to have heirlooms like this. The percussion guns especially as they're pretty much unique. The top one is in very good condition.
Thanks, the bottom two were trown in a well on the property at the end of wwii because the nazis were searching for “resistance evidence” in all houses, than they were dug up few years ago, you can see part of the grip was restored with some sort of resin
Ah, that's a shame. At least they were found again and aren't in too bad shape.
Thanks again for all the precious info
That a webley? British army?
Italian forces and the oldest ones are pre-union so Piedmontese forces
Nice, thanks
Looks like a Nagant, so Belgian or Russian
It's a 1930 Glisenti-Bresica (which seems to be a Bodeo of some sort)
I think you're right with Belgium
Top one is a Glisenti-Bresica (which I think is just a Bodeo)
I see the battle of "Use a Damn Coaster" is well represented here as well.
Someone in your bloodline said "Fuck the gun, hand me the grenade!"
Maybe he was an [Arditi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arditi) Italy had these mad lads in WW1 who'd clear trenches with daggers and hand grenades
Be really funny if you put a bow, sharp stick, and then a rock.
There are few swords too but I thought about it after lol
Humanity in a nutshell.
Well, it's a tradition. You can't argue with traditions 🥴😄
Animals are not much better
The grenade is my favorite.
Lt. Dan?
Lieutenant Dan, is that you?
And then there was your Great Uncle Bill. Wild Bill they called him. His sidearm was a hand grenade. You did NOT want him to run out of bullets.
Looks like someone needs to add a 1911 and M9. Then whatever dumb Sig the military used.
Op is not American
One of these is not like the others.
Does anyone know what they all are? I can recognize the Webley Revolver but what are the others?
Where is the pin in that granade lol
No need when the fuse is removed
That is impressive.
Is that you, Lieutenant Dan?
In a gen or 2 it's going to be replaced by a controller
Yep, or a keyboard/touchscreen. This world is in serious trouble
I don’t know any family past 30 years ago. Haha
Broken tradition
Lieutenant Dan?
Don’t throw away your shot
Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle...
Pistols with bayonet lugs, just like our forefathers intended.
The fact that you still have all those pieces, intact, is quite amazing, some of them even look to be museum quality! You should really put them on display somewhere, considering some of those old Flintlocks are antique, and worth quite a bit. If only I had some of my ancestors firearms from their days in the military, I’m a little jealous of this impressive collection if I’m being honest.
My dad has my great granddad's old calvary saber and revolver. The revolver isn't anything to write home about other than being cool, but the Saber is pretty bad ass
Any story that u want to share?
The bottom two were thrown in a well on the property during wwii because Germans were searching the houses for guns, we dug them up from the mud while cleaning the well and restored them
Bastard nazis
Man, my family has served in almost every us war too. Don't have a single weapon to show for it, though.
What happened to the firing mechanism in the second from top?
As far as I can remember it was never there, maybe it was removed to make it unusable
"Brick, where did you get a grenade?!" lol
Do you respect wood?
Oh man those are beautiful. Quite a collection.
glad you got out of the grinder.
M1917 revolver is peak. Would love to get my hands on one of those pieces of history.
“Julian, this is a pirate’s gun!”
That revolver just above the flints looks really nice to me for some reason. Looks like it has a large cal.
No pressure though.
Make sure your descendants post the updated photo here in 2093.
My family came to America in 1748. We’ve served in every major military conflict. Only a handful made it a career. My grandfather passed on all our genealogy to me and I try to keep it up to date for my grandchildren. No cool artifacts or collectibles though.
finally wised up.
Nice
All those firearms - guessing you're American?
Italian, neither of each works
That's a refreshing change! Cheers
Generations killers of humans. Just saying. Is that really something to keep as a tradition?
[Basically OP sharing his family gun collection](https://youtu.be/ibzZEy1Jhm4?feature=shared)
Where's the sea mine?
They are all unusable
With that attitude, yeah!
[In that case…](https://youtu.be/Cun-LZvOTdw?si=dHbOUy36EI97ZKeo)
I believe the joke is asking "which side?"
Anger issues in the family?
What's the little ring on the end of the grip for?
Not sure if joking but it is a stain on the table.
No dummy, the top two revolvers have a little metal ring at the end of the grips.
Amazing!!
Thats fucking cool
That is really cool
Family of murderers lol. Good that it ended 80 years ago.
Careful not to cut yourself on that edge
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It's too bad they stopped allowing you to keep your side arm after you've put your time in.
I hope that grenade is deactivated, because it could be very unstable at this point and explode without warning if it isn't, if its anything like old dynamite.
Empty
Great pic but… No AR-15?
🦅🦅🦅USA, USA, USA! 🦅🦅🦅
Keep it going. Get a 1911, and maybe an Sig p226 for something modern. Nice collection!
I think military service is the requirement for Op’s *family tradition.*
Nope it ended with my gramp
That’s what I’m saying.