This tatty looking brown wooden box is a Thompson family heirloom passed from my Grandfather to my father and onto me. What makes this special is the story that goes with it and it goes something like this:

Like most men his age my Grandfather, Ernest Thompson, served during the second world war and at it’s end was “demobed” returning to England. As part of this return to civilian life each serviceman was presented with a number of items including a suitcase to carry their belongings. This simple brown box is that suitcase.

When my father began his career working at the Westlands factory in Yeovil as an apprentice tool maker he needed some means to carry around his tools as he went from place to place. Resourceful as ever, my grandfather engaged a local carpenter to convert said suitcase into something suitable. You can see the result in the picture below.

The top half of the case has been split and can be removed to reveal a number of differing sized draws and a large open area at the bottom. It’s a beautiful piece of work and, considering it’s age and the use it has had over the years, in pretty good shape.

So there you have it an unusual family heirloom but there is one slight problem with this story and that is that I can find no evidence that wooden suitcases were issued to demobed servicemen, only cardboard. It maybe that some regiments were issued wooded boxes and others cardboard. It may also be that Ernest went down to the local Woolworths and bought it. Either way it doesn’t matter to me, it’s still a great reminder and a testimony to the craftsmanship of days gone by.

The suitcase/tool box now sits in my garage holding my tools, not that they see much light of day as I may have inherited the case but not the skills so evident in my father and grandfather.

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