With the documents collection reviewed, copied and presented within this blog, my key goal in beginning this work has been achieved. But what now?
Having taken some time away from this project to consider this (and to take on many other tasks seemingly deemed more important), what is immediately clear is my work is far from complete.
The documents collection is itself very impressive and we as a family are incredibly indebted to those who collated and stored it over time. With the volume of paperwork I began with I had been sure it presented a full and concise trail of events. However this was not so.
As I have been exploring the collection I have been compiling a very basic timeline of events. This now serves to highlight not only what I know, but where now to aim my efforts moving forward. Much of the information is very likely but not yet fully confirmed (Light Green). Other knowledge is speculative at this stage based on what evidence we hold (Light Red). These are all areas requiring further attention. What is striking however is the red section. Not only that we hold no information for this period, but also that it represents such a large section of time relatively speaking. Referred to previously as "The Gap" the period is at present proving difficult to unlock.
I have also reached the point where I must now refer back to the Questions log compiled throughout the blog entries so far and see where they lead me.
Positively speaking it is my belief that we do however now understand a great deal in relation to Edwards journey. Certainly enough to open up new lines of enquiry.
A keen lover of maps I have naturally chosen to also track Edwards journey through this medium. Whilst a very basic representation at this stage it does provide a strong visual guide of his experience and further presents me with geographical areas to explore further.
Without primary evidence to hand this will I expect mean blog entries may be less frequent than previously. With current Covid restrictions beginning to ease however; this stage of research occurs at a time when I am more likely to be able to source information from further afield.
I currently have a number of lines of enquiry running in the background.
I am awaiting Edwards official War Records which were requested earlier this year.
I have requested an appointment with researchers at The Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
A future unrelated trip to Italy I hope will incorporate a trip to the landing beaches in Anzio.
Naturally I am also now directing my reading to specifics related to Edwards war and will document any learnings, big or small, as I discover them. As the world returns to something closer to normal I expect my personality to do the same. With this in mind, expect travel and site visits in the future.
Thank you to everyone who is still reading!
Now for the difficult work.
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