Postcards from the Front

Sub category index

Post cards were a popular form of communication during both World Wars.
There were several reasons for this.
- All mail was censored. Therefore all mail had to be opened. Postcards do not need opening.
- Postcards are a quick and easy way to send a short note.
- Many men had little formal education so writing was not common for them.
- Postcards carry a photo which in the days before personal cameras was a bonus.
- Postcards were (and still are) seen as a souvenir.
- Many professional photographers offered a service where they printed a studio photo onto a postcard blank to allow an easy method of sending it home.
- Many of the surviving photos that families have of WW1 soldiers were actually postcards as described above.


A typical postcard back. A small area for a message, an area for the address and a area for the stamp. Some cards (as this one does) also had a printed message about the photo on the front. Back shown actual size with enlargement for detail. Front (above) shown oversize.
	This is how mail would arrive. "Opened by Censor". Any reference to places, units or any other military information would be removed.

This is an early version of a postcard, created by gluing a photo to a postcard blank. This is an original photograph showing a group of soldiers in helmets around the defending cannon on Sydney Heads at the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Photographer: Not Identified. Date: 1884 written in pencil on the mount.

“To William Seymour Wells from his affectionate brother, F.B.Seymour Wells, late private in the N.S.Wales Contingent in the Soudan.” This is an original cabinet photograph showing a private in the New South Wales Volunteer forces who attended the Soudan and nicely signed on the back. This was one of the sons of Colonel Frederick Wells who also attended the Soudan. Photographer: B.C.Boake, 488 George Street, Sydney, Australia. Date: Not dated, Barcroft Capel Boake was active at this address from 1885 to 1888.
A fancy embroidered card.

This NZ postcard includes the photos and names of Officers of the 4th Battalion Otago Rifle Volunteers.	This post card is one of the few articles I have seen that refers to the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force. The far more common name did not include the word "Expeditionary".

	Some were rather exaggerated and were actually the start of propaganda postcards.
So, Australia doesn't count, hey ?
	This 1916 French postcard indicates what the rest of the world thought about Australia, and for that matter, New Zealand, Canada, India and Cape Colony (Sth Africa). ALL their flags are missing from this 'Flags of the Allies' compilation. One has to assume that as part of the Empire we were included in the British flag.
'The Flags of the Allies'. front to back; France, Belgium, Britain, Russia, Serbia, Japan. When one considers the achievements of some of the 'Allies' perhaps Australia's flag is better off out of it. If one were to remove the countries whose flags are not here from the fighting the Germans would have won the war quite easily. ANZAC and the Canadians took so much of the punishment and turned so many battles that Germany just wore out. When the Yanks arrived in 1918 it was the last straw for an already demoralised enemy.