Transcribe

Wartime Correspondence

Front of Postcard sent from France by Reginald to Connie Back of postcard sent from France showing censor's mark
Connie Cocker, a friend of my great, great aunt's, was born in Derby in 1895. When one of her distant relatives, Reg, was called up in 1917 they wrote to one another regularly. Reg enjoyed corresponding with Connie, but unfortunately, due to the censoring of post from soldiers (as can be seen on the postcard) it was difficult for him to communicate much. However, he looked forward to getting letters from her. Whilst he was away Connie got engaged to another young man, Stanley Cholerton, who was not called up due to being in a reserved occupation (he was a blacksmith) and they were married in 1918, whilst Reg was still away at the front. Sadly Connie died from complications in childbirth in 1922 at the age of only 27. However, Reg never married and returned to Derby, where he lived until his death in 1972 at the age of 81.

Show More
 
 
 
 

CONTRIBUTOR

Sally McIntosh

DATE

/

LANGUAGE

eng

ITEMS

2

INSTITUTION

Europeana 1914-1918

PROGRESS

START DATE
TRANSCRIBERS
CHARACTERS
LOCATIONS
ENRICHMENTS

Generating story statistics and calculating story completion status!

METADATA

Source

UGC

Contributor

europeana19141918:agent/97354aea553c6a48f9c3df4667a41d89

Type

Story

Language

eng
English

Country

Europe

DataProvider

Europeana 1914-1918

Provider

Europeana 1914-1918

Year

1922
1917

DatasetName

2020601_Ag_ErsterWeltkrieg_EU

Begin

1917
Mon Jan 01 00:19:32 CET 1917
Sun Jan 01 00:19:32 CET 1922
Tue Jan 01 00:19:32 CET 1901

End

1922
Mon Dec 31 00:19:32 CET 1917
Sun Dec 31 00:19:32 CET 1922
Sun Dec 31 01:00:00 CET 2000
Sun Dec 31 00:19:32 CET 1933

Language

mul

Agent

Constance (Connie) Alice M Cocker | europeana19141918:agent/3785faccb1acff5d4c6257bce5209869
Reginald Ernest Cocker | europeana19141918:agent/6384aabb90b2358b4429a45760e81ed1
Sally McIntosh | europeana19141918:agent/97354aea553c6a48f9c3df4667a41d89

Created

2019-09-11T08:13:53.295Z
2019-09-11T08:13:53.266Z
2019-09-11T08:13:53.267Z
2012-11-04 20:50:39 UTC
2012-11-04 20:59:03 UTC

Provenance

INTERNET

Record ID

/2020601/https___1914_1918_europeana_eu_contributions_4316

Discover Similar Stories

 
 
 
 

Nancy Garnett: the wartime scrapbooks of a VAD nurse

12 Items

Nancy Garnett & cousin Jerry as children || || Souvenir made from the teak of Admiral Jericho's flagship || Memorabilia

Go to:
 
 
 
 

Women's Correspondence

1 Item

Whilst the men were away fighting a number of my great, great aunt's friends, who were all young women between 18 and 25 years of age, corresponded with one another by postcard, many of which show contemporary cartoons. They sent them for birthdays and to cheer one another up as well as to discuss every day life. The messages they wrote on the postcards were very basic and said very little, but I understand they developed a code to share messages, for example about news they had from soldiers overseas, or about other matters they did not want either the postman or the censor to see. The code involved the specific placement of the stamp on the postcard in relation to the box provided for it. Unfortunately I do not know what their code meant, but the stamps on their cards can be seen in a range of carefully placed positions, and I understand that they were using a combination of the number of notches on the stamp above or below the box and the angle at which the stamp was placed to communicate a certain message. || World War 1 Cartoon postcards sent between women on the home front Rear of postcard showing carefully placed 'coded' stamp.

Go to:
 
 
 
 

Captain/Major Harold Ward Correspondence

983 Items

Letters written by Captain/Major Harold Ward to his wife, Louise Ward (nee Jacques) and son Kenneth Martin Ward. This collection comprises some 253 items (plus 9 field service post cards), written on 875 sides of paper of various shapes, sizes, colours and conditions. Most letters are written on only 1 side of the paper; some are double sided. Capt/Major Ward's handwriting was very legible even when he was writing by candle-light in the trenches. Some of the letters have been nibbled by silver fish in the intervening years! Since correspondence was censored they tend to focus on non-specifics. However, those who know the history of the 2/4th and 2/5th Lincolnshire Battalions, will be able to make more sense of the activities, events and conditions which Capt/Major Ward reports. || Letters and fiels service postcards

Go to: