Dear all Some thoughts on the value of WW1 letters and postcards that have been treasured by families for almost a century, and how those who hold these items can help researchers ... Most servicemen sent a large number of letters and postcards to friends and family - and received many in return. The postal service was very efficient, particularly for those serving (as most of them did) in a theatre of war that was quote close and accessible such as the Western Front. From a historical researcher's point of view they are both a very valuable resource, as they provide a window into what the men (and women) felt at the time - revealing their hopes, fears, desires, viewpoints and morale - and a resource that needs to be read with care, bearing in mind issues of official censorship, self-censorship and whether the ones that survived are representative of the whole picture. It is also problematic that in almost all cases we are only allowed to see one side of the conversation, as those letters from home received by the servicemen have very rarely survived. Although there are available, in print and in various archives, a large number of WW1 letters and postcards, new insights can be revealed from even the most 'usual' of correspondence. The mundanity of so much of this material in itself tells us about the strength of the bond between the home front and the Western Front - they corresponded so often that they ran out of things to say. A couple of years ago I ran a project at Cardiff University to gather and share material related to WW1 that is still held in family archives. To read about the material gathered, and how historians sought to analyse it, follow these links - http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/research/projectreports/welshvoices/articles/articles.html http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/research/projectreports/welshvoices/examples/examples.html The material gathered has been uploaded onto the 'People's Collection Wales' website. In order to see what's there, the best idea is to look at this PDF document giving descriptions of all the items, and then to search for whichever one you'd like to look at using Google - http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/resources/Welsh%20Voices%20Project%20Items%20-%20Title%20+%20Description.pdf The 'People's Collection Wales' is the best site for those who hold this material to share it with others. It will allow present and future researchers access to this unique material, the better to understand the impact that the Great War had upon Wales and the Welsh. It is relatively easy for the computer-literate to share their material on this website - follow the 'add items' link from the homepage - http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/ As it happens, I shall be uploading a batch of WW1 material in mid-July, so if anyone would like me to do the uploading work for them, they can contact me. You will have to do the scan yourself (a JPG of around 1Mb is usually fine), and to provide information about the letter / postcard (ie. who sent it, when, from where, what unit was he with etc) and I'll do the rest. All the best, Gethin Matthews