A WAGGA woman was given the shock of her life when a bible issued to her father during WWI turned up on her doorstep all the way from England.
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Margaret Jenkins (nee Fairfax) had no idea what to expect when she opened the mysterious parcel that arrived in her Turvey Park letterbox several weeks ago.
“Until I opened it, I had no idea,” Mrs Jenkins said.
“Then I saw that and then I was stunned for a few days. I couldn’t believe it was Dad’s bible.”
English-born Mr Fairfax studied medicine while in the army and served as a medical officer across the Middle East and Gallipoli during WWI. He joined the police force at the end of the war, migrated to Australia in 1923 and was later stationed at Wagga Police Station for 25 years.
Mr Fairfax’s bible – which was only issued to WWI civilians – has sat in the Loughborough Carillon and War Museum, England, since the end of the war.
But how it came to Mrs Jenkins remains a mystery.
“It’s a good question – I wouldn’t have an idea,” she said. “But it means a lot to me, it really does.”
Mrs Jenkins said the bible now serves as a reminder of her dad, who died in 1977.
“He said you didn’t have to go to bloody church to be a Christian, you can be that every day,” she said. “I’ve always carried on what my father taught me. It’s marvelous to have it, it really is.”
