Last updated: 24 March 2018
This website is about Harold 'Fergie' Ferguson and Geneva Ferguson and it is
as much of a story as it is a family archive.
The inseparable couple met in February 1942 and married in November that
year. To this day (as of 15 March 2018 it has been more than 75 years) they
remain together and very much in love. Of course they did not expect to be
separated physically but they were due to the Second World War. In December of
that year (1942) Fergie was conscripted into military service and sent to the
UK until the end of the war and then after V-E day he was transferred to the
German Occupation until November 1945.
The goal of this website is to chronicle all the things the Ferguson family
has collected; specifically what Fergie and Geneva have collected in over 75
years of togetherness. This includes things about them too so you might find
memories (down the road), stories or other things told from their perspective or
the perspective of family members (and possibly friends too). Not all of this is
available but the website is very much a work in progress. The following list is
what is available as of the 24th of March 2018. Clicking on the link or
scrolling down will give you more information about the topic in question; to
return to the top click on the link it takes you to (Letters, Journals,
etc.).
Despite the fact Fergie was deployed to the UK their relationship didn't
falter; on the contrary it strengthened it to its core.
They tried to write to each other every day and they remarkably were able to
keep almost all the letters!
There are also letters from and to family and friends but the majority are
between Fergie and Geneva during the war. Currently (as of 24 March 2018) all
the letters from 1939 through all of March 1944 are on the website; in
chronological order more will be added in due course. In addition there are
other things on this website although there is much more to come in the future.
To access the letters click here or from the
main page click on the picture of the stamp at the top right which looks
like:
Then you can click on the year, the month and day. For every year, month and
day there is information about what was actually going on with the war
[1]; as of 10
June 2017 there is information for each year as well as every month and day up
through January of 1942.
Each letter is scanned in and then transcribed (correcting any mistakes which
are noticed in the process). The transcribed copy will always be found below the
original letter. If any letters have something that might need further explanation
e.g. what is V-mail it can be found below the transcribed copy.
As you are reading the letters you will undoubtedly notice the mention of
other people, places or things and may wonder how they are related or what they
are or how they're significant to the letters. In the year portion of the web
site you can scroll to the bottom and open the Relationship link to find out who
they are and how they are related (you can also click
here
to do that).
Although as of 24 March 2018 there are only scans of Harold's
(better and more commonly known as Fergie)
journal in 1991
the idea is there will be more than just this. To view the journals click on the
image of a journal below the stamp on the main page which looks
like:
From here you can click on whose journal you would like to view and
from that page the years and finally the month in particular. If you
observe the navigation for the journal to the left of the page 1 there
is a « and to the very right
there is a ». These will take
you to the previous or next page, respectively (if not at the
first or last, respectively). It occurred to me just now that it would
be ideal if there was a way to easily read it month by month but this
will have to be done another time when more thought can be given to it.
If you click on the image in the middle of the home page of Fergie and
Geneva Ferguson holding hands (or click here)
you will see on the next page a list of various things the two have
collected; currently this consists of:
At this time there is only one greeting card; this is from
1942 and it is a Father's Day card from Geneva.
Here too there is only one item; this is an
interview in 2011 of Fergie and Geneva Ferguson.
Although we intend to expand this for now (24 March 2018) there are
only quotes (clippings) of a number of categories. Rather than list the
categories here we just refer you to the index (there are quite a few
categories) here.
As hard as it may be to believe in this day and age this marriage was
meant to last and last it has: they are very much in love and have been
for over 75 years. The wedding announcement can be found
here.
