A POSTCARD FROM THE FRONT - Back

During World War 1 the British Army issued pre-printed Postcards to the soldiers with a selection of messages that they were allowed to tick or cross out as suited their condition. Instructions read that ‘Sentences not required may be erased. If anything else is added the post card will be destroyed. 'My grandfather, Lance Corporal Alfred Howes enlisted on the 11 December 1915 into the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment and was at the Somme during 1916 to 1918. During this time he sent a number of these cards to my father who was then a boy three years of age. He also made a matchbox cover out of a brass shell case and engraved it with a design and lettering.

Installation at Dyffryn Gardens, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales - 2017
Six plaques with different messages.