Messages from the First War

[catbert]

First world war guest book reveals mindset of soldiers bound for front
Wartime document from tea room at Peterborough railway station contains heartbreaking notes, jokes and sketches
Guardian article (link) (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/13/first-world-war-guest-book-soldiers-messages-peterborough-station)


A fascinating record. Poignancy and historical interest aside, the standard of penmanship is worth noting. It would have been nice to see closeups of their handwriting alongside the typed transcriptions.


Browse the visitors’ books (link) (http://www.peterboroughww1.co.uk/browse-archive/)


Might a dip pen have been provided next to the visitors' book? Variations in ink colour suggest some wrote with their own pens while others used pencil.

[Lady Onogaro]

It's interesting how many of them wrote verse of one kind or another in the visitors' books (some are clearly original poems created for the occasion).

The entries are so touching; so many of them are laced with resignation, fear, acceptance, etc. Many of the entries of the 1917 book clearly indicate their chief concern about being remembered.

Thank you, catbert, or sharing these. (I have an interest in WWI because of my love of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. Lord Peter, as we know, was a veteran of WWI.)

[Robert]

Thanks for posting this. The penmanship is, indeed, worth noting. I've long had an interest in the "Great War" in which my paternal grandfather briefly served.

[catbert]

Thanks for posting this. The penmanship is, indeed, worth noting. I've long had an interest in the "Great War" in which my paternal grandfather briefly served.

My great grandfather looked after the horses as they disembarked at 'Lee Hayver', according to my grandmother. (Le Havre.)

(edited to correct generations)

[Robert]

Catbert - Have you read Barbara Tuchman's *The Guns of August* ? Published in 1962, it's still a fascinating read on the origins of WWI.

[catbert]

Catbert - Have you read Barbara Tuchman's *The Guns of August* ? Published in 1962, it's still a fascinating read on the origins of WWI.

Yes indeed. Another, looking at the other end of that conflict - the treaties and the consequences - is 'The Kings Depart' by Richard M. Watt.