WWI: Christmas in the Trenches
Christmas Cards of WWI
The practice of military regiments designing their own festive cards began in the early 20th century and was in regular practice by the time of the Great War. Generally, regimental cards exhanged during the war kept to a simple and standard front design, normally the unit badge on white paper, with or without a decorative ribbon. An obvious exception to this is the card sent by 66th East Lancashire Division in 1917 below which depicts a British troop with a German helmet pierced by his bayonet.
Card interiors are often less subdued and more likely to contain a graphic or message directly related to the regiment's combat experience. The inside of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade card from Christmas 1917 (Gordon Gilmour Fonds), for example, reproduces a sketch of a ruined church from the recent Battle of Vimy Ridge, and the card from the 48th Highlanders (John Houstin Philp Fonds) includes a photo of the unit's sergeants taken during their time of training at Salisbury Plain, England.
Soldiers serving abroad also had a wide-variety of seasonal cards to choose from. European manufacturers were quick to recognize a market for military-themed Christmas cards and many of these items ended up in the hands of loved ones back home. Examples here illustrate a range of options available to the First World War soldier from generic format cards with hastily included patriotic poetry (Walter Anderson Tennant Fonds) to the more expensive silk emroidered cards, much prized as souvenirs (Ingrid Osborne Collection, and The Neva Forsyth Fonds).
Fuller resolution and card inscriptions (if not already shown) can be had by clicking on the images.
From the Mary Gray Fonds at the Military Museums Library and Archives.
From the Mary Gray Fonds at the Military Museums Library and Archives.
William Proven
William Proven enlisted with his brother James in November of 1914 to join the 31st Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Neither brother made it through the war. James was died of wounds suffered at the Battle of the St. Elios Craters on April 15th, 1916. William was injured in the late winter of 1917 and died of his wounds on March 7.
The card and letter on display here, from Christmas 1915 and 1916 respectively, were sent from France by William to Mary Gray and her family in Calgary. Click on the images to read the full text of the letter and to view the written portion of the Christmas card.
From the James Norman Stephenson and Norma Lendrum Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
From the James Norman Stephenson and Norma Lendrum Fonds at the Military Museums Library and Archives.
Norman Stephenson
Norman Stephenson enlisted with the 12th Canadian Mounted Rifles in Calgary on January 11, 1915. During the war he served with the Fort Garry Horse Machine Gun Section and was involved in the Battle of Ypres. He remained in active service until July 12, 1917 when he developed a serious case of trench fever and was sent back to England to recover.
The first card on display, sent to Stephenson in 1916 from a friend in the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade, features a reproduction of W.B. Wollen's painting The Battle of Frezenberg. The original hangs in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Museum at the The Military Museums.
Norman Stephenson's daughter, Norma Lendrum, has authored a biography of her father titled, Invisible Soldiers: Four Years in the Life of a Cavalryman in WWI. The book is available is the Military Museums Library and Archives.
From the Bert Hayes Collection at The Military Museums Library and Archives
Christmas newspapers
Trench newspapers were widely produced among allied forces during World War One. They served as both an antidote to sanguine civilian newspaper accounts of the war, and as a forum for honest expression about life at the front. This example is the Christmas 1915 edition of The Listening Post, a Canadian produced trench newspaper that ran from August, 1915 through March, 1919.
From The John Houston Philp Fonds at the Military Museums Library and Archives.
John Houston Philp
John Houston Philp was born April 19th, 1889 in Scotland. After emigration to Canada he worked as a bricklayer until November of 1915 when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He served overseas with the 31st Canadian Battalion and remained in Scotland following the war.
Philp's card includes a unit photo taken, presumably, while the 48th Highlanders of Canada, were training in Salisbury Plain, UK.
From the Graham Collection at the Calgary Highlanders Regimental Archives.
10th Canadian Battalion
The 10th Canadian Infantry Battalion ("The Fighting 10th") was formed at the outset of WWI and participated in every major Canadian battle. The card on display the Commanding Officer's, Lt. Col. Eric Whidden MacDonald, official Christmas communication for 1918.
From the Leo Patrick Griffin Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
Leo Griffin
Leo Patrick Griffin was born on February 7, 1890 in Arthur, Ontario. At the time of his enlistment (June 4, 1916) he was a marine engineer, becoming a member of the 211th Overseas Battalion. Pte Griffin was killed in action on August 26, 1918 and was buried in the Wancourt (France) British Cemetery. At the time of his death he was with the 28th Battalion.
The card on display was likely sent home to Griffin's family for Christmas, 1917.
Harry Woodman
Harry Woodman was born in 1895 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Edmonton in 1915 and served with the Alberta Dragoons until the armistice. Post-war he lived in Ottawa where he died in the 1960's.
Woodman's card, bearing the badge of the 19 Alberta Dragoons, was sent by Woodman from France to his sister Winnipeg in 1915.
Lionel Corlett
Lionel Corlett was born in Lancashire, England on October 9th, 1878. He emigrated to Canada and settled in the Edmonton region of Alberta, working as a freight clerk. He enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in June of 1915 and served with the 9th Canadian Railway Troops.
The card was sent home by Corlett in 1917, the first year that the Canadian Railway Troops were active in France.
From the Gordon Gilmour Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives
Gordon Gilmour
Gordon Gilmour was born in Doe Lake, Ontario on February 19th, 1890. Prior to his enlistment with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI he worked as a farmer in the area of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. During the war, Gilmour served with the 229th Battalion and was wounded at Passchendaele. Following the war, Gilmour returned home to Saskatchewan, ultimately settling in Carrot River. Gordon Gilmour died in 1962.
The first card, bearing the badge design of the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, was likely sent by Gilmour for Christmas, 1917. The interior of the card shows ruins following the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The second card, non regimental, card was recieved by Gilmour's wife from a family friend in 1915. It depicts an unknown ocean liner, invoking the memory of the Lusitania sinking.
From the 66th East Lancashire Division Christmas Card Collection at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
66th East Lancashire Division
The 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. This card, sent from Sapper A. Paterson to John White in 1917, departs noticably from the the more typically sombre unit cards. Click to see the inside poem and illustration.
From the Albert Philip Allen Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
Albert Philip Allen
Albert Philip Allen was born in Sissinghurst, Kent, on January 23, 1888. After immigration to Canada Allen worked as a painter before enlisting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on September 21, 1914 and served with the 5th battalion. Allen survived the war and eventually settled in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
Card displayed was sent by Allen ("Bert") to "Bee", his fiance and later wife, Beatrice Emma Allen, in 1915.
From the Walter Anderson Tennant Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
Walter Anderson Tennant
Walter Anderson Tennant was born on October 9th 1885, in Fredericton New Brunswick. Prior to the outbreak of WWI he worked in lumber mills in the Yahk, B.C. area. Tennant enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on March 3rd, 1915 and served overseas with the 48th Infantry Battalion. Tennant died June 30th, 1919 of emphysema
This card was recieved by Tennant's sister.
From the Neva Forsythn Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
Neva Forsyth
Neva Forsyth lived in the province of Alberta, likely in the Edmonton area during the first part of her life. This silk embroiderd card was sent to her by a serving soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, likely William Falcus, of Edmonton, service number 466018.
From the Ingrid Osborne Collection at The Military Museums Library and Archives
This silk embroidered card, collected by Ingrid Osborne, was sent to Canada by an unknown soldier during WWI.
From The Helen E. Taylor Fonds at The Military Museum Library and Archives.
Helen E. Taylor & Arthur Arnold Botsford
Helen E. Taylor was born in June 1881. Prior to, and during WWI, she worked as a cashier at Leonard’s Café in Calgary, which she also used as an alternate mailing address. During the war Taylor corresponded with several soldiers, among them Arthur Arnold Botsford of the 7th Canadian Field Ambulance, likely in 1917.
From the Frederick Smith Fonds at The Military Museums Library and Archives.
Frederick Smith & Ella Snoddy
Frederick Edwin Smith was born August 28, 1887 in Dorsetshire, England. After emigrating to Canada in 1907, he worked as a farmer before enlisting with the First Canadian Pioneers at Moosomin, Saskatchewan in December of 1914. He served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force until the end of the war and was discharged by reason of demobilization on April 3, 1919. Following the war, Smith continued farming in the Rocanville area of Saskatchewan until his death in 1978.
During the war Smith kept in constant contact with his fiancée Ella Snoddy, by mail. This card was likely sent to Snoddy in December of 1915.