A child is shown praying on the front of this photographic postcard, beneath an inset portrait of a soldier. Printed to the soldier’s left is the following verse: ‘Thoughts of Daddy. / I think of you dear Daddy, / Through all the long, long days, / And for your quick and safe return / Your little Girlie prays.’. The printed information on the back reads: ‘All British Production’, ‘Series No 497-1’, and ‘Printed in England’. A childish hand has filled the blank space on the back with the following message, headed ‘Feb. 26. 15.’: ‘Dear Daddy x, I am writing you a little postcard asking you if you are quite well as it leaves me at the presetren sic. Mother as sic had another bad cold and had to go to bed early, and I say it is time you shouht sic be home Daddy x, Ernie x and Alfred x had sic been a sic good boys. Now I will closes sic with loving kisses. XX for x luck XX xxxxx / xxxxx From your loving daughter, Violet xxxxxx / xxxxx / xxxxxxxxxxxxX Daddy X xxxxxxxxxxxx’. || A British sentimental postcard, with a message written in 1915.

A British sentimental postcard || The name of the artist who created the central image, of a child sitting at a desk, writing, can be seen below the chair: ‘L Hocknell’. A black-and-white photograph of soldiers marching appears above. The verse below reads, ‘I’m proud of Daddy, / Mummy is too, / So I am sending / Some kisses for you. / X X X X X X X X X.’. Printed details on the reverse include ‘Valentine’s Series’ and ‘Printed in Great Britain’. The postcard has been franked, and although the postmark is largely illegible, the place name may read ‘ANTR’ and the date may include ‘8’. It has been addressed in black ink to ‘1312 Pte Private A Davey / C. Squadron / North Irish Horse / 3rd Division / British Exped Expeditionary Force’. The message reads, ‘Dear Dad / Received your P.C. to-day sorry to hear you are gone up the line again Lilla is being a good girl but daddy is a queer long time coming. With fondest Love from Lilla & Mummy / xxxxxxxxxxX / Did you not get the baccy ? before you moved. I suppose not’. Based on these details, research has revealed that Allen Davey served first as a private in the North Irish Horse (regimental number 1312) and then in Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) (regimental number 41250). The son of Mr and Mrs W J Davey of Dunloskin, Carrickfergus (in County Antrim, Northern Ireland), he married Sarah Elliott Patterson in 1912 and they lived in Carrickfergus. He enlisted in the British Army in Belfast in 1915 and was killed in action in Flanders on 19 April 1918 aged thirty. He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium. || || Postcard || A British sentimental postcard || Front

A British sentimental postcard || Pictured on main portion of this black-and-white postcard are a girl and her mother, both dressed in white, apparently reading a letter together. Above them is the legend ‘A Message of Love Daddy’, with a flower depicted between this and an oval inset photograph of a British soldier shouldering his gun. The verse to the right of the mother and child reads, ‘Sitting at the Cottage door / Thinking of you far away / Our love for you grows more and more / And for your safe return we pray’. The printed information on the reverse states ‘H. B. Series. Entire British Production. London, E.C.’ and ‘No. 681’. || || A British sentimental postcard || Postcard