Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.04.2013, Síða 4

Hi!
My name is Stefano, I am contacting you
from Italy and that's why: I'm living a gap
year before starting my studies, and my
dream would be to spend a month, August,
in Iceland.
I would love to work to get the job done:
I am a strong person with good manual
ability and who loves to learn and does so
quickly. I have managed my own house for
five months, so I can offer my ability in
cooking, cleaning and reparing or building
small objects.
I am great at working with people: I've
worked as a sales assistant and as a waiter, I
speak Italian, English and Spanish fluently,
I have worked with children for a year as
a scout, dedicated myself to radio speaking
and had great fun being the representative
of my school, last year.
I have a wonderful passion for outdoor:
after walking the GR 20 in Corsica, the
Camino de Santiago in Spain, the Trans-
Lagorai here in Italy and the Laugavegur
there in Iceland - which is the last one I've
enjoyed organizing completely alone and
which determined my fatal falling in love
with Iceland - I can consider myself a good
choice for trekking. I also love skiing.
I would need: a bed.
Would love: a place to cook and would
enjoy the company of anyone.
Having the possibility to help someone
in kitchen and then sharing the meal with
them would be the best for me.
Can you help me?
Stefano
Dear Stefano,
We got your letter on April 1 and in all
honesty, our first thoughts were “April
Fools?” But you sure don’t sound like no
fool! In fact, you sound like a charming
and capable fellow with lots of practical
skills to offer and a good disposition.
Since we are a newspaper, we don’t
have a bed or a place to cook to offer you,
but maybe one of our lovely readers does!
Maybe they are also a nice person with
fine skills to spend quality time with.
Maybe you’ll find each other and fall in
love and have a beautiful wedding! We
assume we’re invited since we are your
matchmakers! Oy, we just turned into a
dating agency…
But anyway. We recommend you
check for available rooms and job open-
ings on our spin-off site, classifieds.
grapevine.is. Good luck on your hunt and
follow your dreams!
[Editor’s note: this issue’s most awesome
letter and its response are a correspon-
dence between a journalist and an histori-
an from Australia. If you are interested in
the story or have any pertinent informa-
tion, please email editor@grapevine.is.]
Dear Icelandic friends
We here in far away Australia are still
trying to solve this 100 year old mystery.
I wonder if any of your readers can
help?
Copied most recent correspondence
Rod
HELP SOLVE THE MYSTERY: THE
DIGGER AND THE ICELANDIC
SPINSTER
AUSTRALIAN travel writer, Roder-
ick Eime has stumbled on a conundrum
in Iceland involving a mysterious young
Australian World War I soldier, and a
prominent Icelandic spinster who died 32
years ago at age 88.
It’s in a tiny cottage in the historic
Hafnarfjordur district of Reykjavik that
the lady decreed before her death in 1980
be left untouched as a folk museum for
generations to follow. Quaint old-time
kitchen utensils still sit on the wood
stove, vintage furniture is still in place
and old family photos adorn a sideboard.

And, says Rod, amongst those photos is a
studio portrait of a striking young soldier
in uniform – an Australian First World
War soldier complete with slouch hat and
“rising sun” emblems on his collars.
But as Rod asks: what is he doing here,
and just who is this handsome young man
who was neither son, husband nor brother
of the lady who was an only child and
never married, yet felt him worthy of a
studio photograph prominently displayed
on her sideboard for life?
Main speculation rests on the possibly
of an unfulfilled romantic interest, but
having never left her native Iceland how,
Rod muses, did they meet?
Rod says the lady’s name was Sigridur
Erlendsdottir, daughter of Erlendur Mar-
teinsson and Sigurveig Einardottir.
If you think you’ve an inkling as to
the identity of the dashing young bloke
on her sideboard, Rod would love to hear
from you so he can pay tribute in a final
chapter to the young man’s life – and his
relationship with Sigridur Erlendsdottir
who in later life was prominent in politics
and worker’s rights.
Rod
Dear Rod,
Thank you for your interesting query.
There weren’t any Australian troops
in Iceland during the First World War;
however that’s not to say that a man
who served in the AIF did not have
ties to Iceland. 2% of the Australian
population at the 1911 census were
born in Europe, which no doubt would
have been replicated in the Australian
forces.
Where in Iceland did you find the
photograph? I’ve found two men with
two connections with Iceland on their
service records – one man was born
there, the next of kin on the other man
resided there. Perhaps the name of a
town or village may widen the search?
The colour patch seen on the man’s
left arm is consistent with the 20th Bat-
talion. One of the men mentioned above
was Private George Reise of Parsnon,
Iceland, who was part of the 8th Rein-
forcements of the 20th Battalion. He
transferred to the 56th Battalion before
arriving in France, was wounded in the
arm at Fromelles on 20 July 1916, and
returned to Australia owing to the na-
ture of his wounds in February 1917. A
copy of his service record can be viewed
here:http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/
scripts/Imagine.asp?B=8031009
I hope this may be of some assis-
tance.

Yours sincerely,

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section
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