Did ww1 soldiers get letters?

During the First World War, letter writing was the main form of communication between soldiers and their loved ones, helping to ease the pain of separation. Receiving letters from family and friends was also vital to morale, keeping men and women connected to the homes they had left behind.

How often did WW1 soldiers write letters?

Twelve and a half million letters were sent to the Western Front every week.

How did the soldiers get mail in WW1?

All sorting was done by hand. Mail was transported in sacks, the dust from which lodged in the throat and eyes and formed “tide marks” around the shirt collar. The youngest of the men who’d survived WW1 were just reaching retirement age when I started work in 1965 aged 15.

Why do they call Anzacs diggers?

Diggers: The word Digger has been around since the early days of the gold rush in Australia and anecdotally there is evidence that some Colonial Australians were given the nickname Digger because of their mining endeavors.

Why are Anzacs diggers?

The term ‘digger’ is generally accepted as slang for an Australian soldier, and the myth is that it came from Australians digging trenches at Gallipoli. “It was a term awarded by the British high command to the exploits really of our engineers because they were bloody good diggers,” he says.

Where can I find information about WW1 in Australia?

The State Library of New South Wales has an extremely good section of its website focused on Australia and the First World War with introductory guides, but also access to a lot of digitised material including official records, soldiers’ letters and diaries and a very good selection of images.

Where can I find World War I diaries and letters?

Visit the Library’s World War I Collection website for a list of the diary and letter collections. In many cases, diarists kept more than one volume of their writings. Most of the diaries measure around 9.5 cm x 15 cm in size, small enough to fit into a top pocket.

What is a First World War letter?

A collection of First World War letters. These letters were written by men who worked for the Great Western Railway at Paddington, London, who went to war. They can be used for a variety of activities in the classroom or elsewhere.

How many Queenslanders served in WW1?

57,705 Queenslanders served their country in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. These brave men and women, some of whom were just teenagers, wrote home about their experiences. A heartfelt letter home from a weary soldier in a muddy trench in Flanders.