In a fact we all know but may not understand in practice — during the First World War, written communication was the only way families could keep in touch. There were no video calls (or regular calls for that matter) back home, no online correspondence and reaching the other party took days, if not weeks. Correspondence took time, and receiving a letter was often the excitement of the day.
Will combat mech suits become a reality?
Letter written from the front-line trenches from 2nd Lieutenant Leonard James Shaw, France 3-7-1916 to his niece Jessie Osborne. National Archives.
Britain specifically tried handing out letters at dinner time to provide morale with the evening meal. Reports say that despite extreme fatigue and hunger, soldiers always read their letters before eating, a show of just how important the messages actually were. In the U.S., an offer was even released in 1918 prompting soldiers to write to their parents regularly. This was listed as a way to keep the parents from suffering.
“To write home frequently and regularly, to keep in constant touch with family and friends, is one of the soldier’s most important duties. Mothers and fathers will suffer if they do not hear often from sons fighting in France. In the present large companies, it is not possible for officers to write letters for their men, and every man must do it for himself.”
