Front || Letter sent by the battalion chaplain to Buchanan’s mother, confirming his death after weeks during which he had been posted missing in action. Families usually received official communication only when there was bad news. When a family member was killed in action or posted missing, military authorities tried to send and confirm information quickly. Where time and the circumstances of war allowed, personal correspondence from an officer, chaplain or comrade was sometimes received.

Photograph of George Buchanan in his Seaforth Highlanders uniform. Portrait photographs such as these might be taken at home before people departed on active service, or were taken in photographers’ studios overseas, away from the front line, and sent home as postcards. They were often preserved after the war as family mementoes. This photograph was enlarged and framed later to hang in the Buchanan family home. || Front

Front || Letter from Corporal Stark informing Mrs Dick that William’s leg had been amputated.