Postcards from the Front

Overview

During World War I, some 330,000 Australian men and women served overseas. More than 60,000 of them never came home.

The letters and postcards they wrote – often under terrible conditions, such as in trenches on the Western Front – became treasured keepsakes for their families and friends.

The war years of 1914–18 coincided with the ‘golden age’ of the postcard, and saw the production of millions of embroidered silk postcards. France was the largest source of these, and hundreds of designs catered specifically to members of the Australian, New Zealand, British, French, Canadian or South African armed forces.

Particularly popular themes were remembrance, liberty, unity, souvenirs of France and Belgium, and regimental badges and crests. Others were of more sentimental design, with flowers and foliage, birds and butterflies, or charming scenery.

Technical specifications