It is hard to believe that 100 years has gone by since World War One. It's hard to believe that, given the horrors of that war, we still have wars today, at this very moment. The last remaining veteran of that war died in 2012, but, through careful archiving, we have retained a great deal of knowledge about it. Much of that archive is in letters, to and from the frontlines.
{image from the British Postal Museum and Archive Flickr}
Our member Samuel sent over some links to some fascinating BBC articles describing the enormous task of delivering mail in wartime. At peak, they dealt with some 12 million additional letters for soliders. Even with the technology at the time, they still managed to make deliveries within a week or two. The sheer logistics of it are staggering, but there's a sweet and sad human side to it as well.
While I knew soldiers' mail was opened by censors to remove any mention of sensitive information, I was unaware that they could apply for an "Honour Envelope" to bypass that intrusion. I like that. It's very civilized. The GPO also made certain that undeliverable mail due to a soldier's death would not be returned to sender until after they received their official telegram. In some places, there was more returned mail than mail to deliver.
I do hope you take some time to read through those letters and articles. They are really amazing. Thanks for sharing Sam!
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