Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 Question!! Were field postcards used by soldiers only before going into action such as a trench raid or going over the top, or were they used just generally at any time when other writing materials were not available? Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 I have seen a large quantity of these postcards from a Gunner W. V. Taylor at Ken's of Newport Pagnell (seller of old newspapers, autographs etc) and they seem to pretty general to me. Taylor's postcards refer to receiving parcels etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Dodd Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 Do you mean by field postcards the cards that you have mutiple thinks to say and cross the ones you don't want out e.g. I recieved you telegram parcel letter and you get rid of one of them ?? Conor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 They were used generally; it is a myth they were dished out on the eve of a big offensive. The rare ones to look for are the 1914 ones; I have only one in 25+ years of collecting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 It seems the Germans sent much more field post cards and letters than the British or is this just my imagination. Numbers for the Germans are 7 million each day to the Heimat, 10 million to the army and 1 million within the army. Are there numbers for the British post? Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 British soldiers may have sent fewer field postcards, but they were great letter writers. In one collection alone, I have probably 500+ letters from a soldier who served at the front from 1916 until the end of the war. I have never seen a figure for the number of letters sent, but it must be in the RE history somewhere, as they handled the mail. I think the British soldiers didn't like the field postcard; it was pretty impersonal and if you wrote anything else on it, some base-wallah would destroy it! They preferred the 'Green Envelope' in which soldiers could write anything; they had to sign the front saying they had disclosed nothing of military value inside. One in a thousand were opened; if the soldier had mentioned anything to do with his unit, movements etc he was court martialled! I have seen many mentions of this in war diaries over the years, so it must have been a common problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 17 March , 2003 Share Posted 17 March , 2003 I am not always sure, if you British minded folks are also interested in the unsolicitated German aspects of any topic/thread, because there is usually little to no feedback. If you are: I can confirm Jan's posting 100%. I have my Grandfathers mail from 1914 and 1917/18 in front of me: the majority of "letters" are indeed field postcards. Not enough, there are even a couple of "real" postcards with coloured motives on frontside; but these coloured ones mainly don't come from the front, but from "on the road", while travelling to /from training camps, leave etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 18 March , 2003 Share Posted 18 March , 2003 Conor, Yes - feld postcards are those buff brown cards with multi-choice sentences that you delete where appropriate. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 18 March , 2003 Share Posted 18 March , 2003 I have a (filled out) French Field Post card from 1916. These were much more colourful and patriotic,with more information being allowed to be written. If anyone would like to see a scan of one of these, drop me a line. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Lines Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 I have a Field Postcard postmarked 24th September 1914 in my collection. It is exactly the same as the standard card except that postage (1d) has been prepaid and the stamp is not paper but an actual stamped/printed copy. Does anyone know if the FPC was a pre-war idea? It would also be interesting to know when the postage charge was dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 Egbert. In answer to your question, I think most people are interested in all views, I certainly am. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 Post cards are very interesting; you can pick them up very cheaply in the flea-markets held in most French towns. Most of these are of course French and written by French soldiers, but one does come across cards for and by Tommy. I have one written by someone in the British Army, in English, to a French lady-friend. Also one can find cards written by French POWs back home. These had a distinct propaganda purpose showing happy, smiling POWs going about their work for the Germans. I have one showing a working party of British POWs returning to camp after a hard day's work road-buiding or some such, and they are clearly unhappy at being photographed. Faces are being turned away from the camera and one soldier can be seen hiding his face with a shovel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 Egbert, I second John's reply! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 John and Ian: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Henschke Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 I'm sure I have seen a G.R.O stating that they ( the F.S. postcard, A.F.A. 2042) were to be made available at the rate of two a fortnight. I found the reference in the IWM and will try and dig it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 I am not always sure, if you British minded folks are also interested in the unsolicitated German aspects of any topic/thread, because there is usually little to no feedback. Egbert I can understand if you feel disappointed about the lack of response, and I'm sorry you feel this way. One of the reasons I chose to take a look at music in the Great war is that it is an international language, and gives me every excuse (not that I need one) to take a look at non-English speaking nations on both sides. Please keep posting and expanding our knowledge of the Great War, because your contributions are very important to our greater understanding. If your grandfather's correspondence contains any reference to music at home or on active service, could you share it with me please? Also, can you explain the beautilful quotation that appears on your postings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 One of the great things about this forum is the number of international contributors, so that with every topic we always have a different angle and approach; the contributions made by Jan and Egbert for the German side are highly valued by this forum member, and I hope they continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 19 March , 2003 Share Posted 19 March , 2003 The reason this contributor doesn't respond to German aspects is that I'm ashamed to say that my knowledge of things German, French, Belgian, American, and others is nil. But I read and learn! One other thing I take into account on whether to post or not is the sheer number of posts that need reading every day. I try not to add to the number unless I have something to contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 20 March , 2003 Share Posted 20 March , 2003 Folks, you are great! I know that Jan (AOK), Ralph and I really do appreciate your encouragements!! That was the "build up' of the day. Kate, no mentioning of music in the field letters, just repeated impressions of music from British artillery bombardements...even in his last letter... The other question: Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince", (c'est un mot clef), freely translated: "the essentials (of what makes a human being) are invisible for the (your)eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Sweeney Posted 22 March , 2003 Share Posted 22 March , 2003 This may answer a few questions. Field Post cards were issued at the rate of 2 per week to each man (1915). Instructions can be found in CDS (or SS) 309 GRO's Adjutant Generals Branch of the BEF section "Censorship Regulations for Troops in the Field". Postage was abolished by GRO 54 3 Sept 1914. Joe Sweeney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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