It’s only been a few weeks since I shared a postcard from my collection but I felt that this one was too important not to share as well. The image on the front is unremarkable, so much so I haven’t bothered to scan it, a view of tree […]
I was browsing through my First World War postcard collection the other day and was prompted to share this one when I noticed the date. The message on the back of this card was written exactly one hundred years ago – on 18 October 1918. It gives us […]
It isn’t often that one gets the opportunity to solve a secret message written over a century ago. I’ve been collecting vintage postcards for more than twenty years and this is the only one I’ve personally come across that has a message on the back actually written in […]
As my regular readers will already be aware, among my collection of historical ephemera, military memorabilia and postal history are several albums of postcards sent by soldiers during the First World War. This year marks the centenary of the start of that conflict, so I’ll be sharing more […]
On 3 December 1917, the men of the 1st Canterbury and 1st Otago battalions assembled along the front line opposite a German strongpoint that was backed with pillboxes, machine-guns, trenches; and at the heart of the position, the ruins of Polderhoek Chateau. At midday the whistles blew and […]
On 25th April 1915, New Zealand and Australian forces landed at what would become known as ANZAC Cove. It wasn’t the first time that New Zealanders went into battle, and it wouldn’t be the last, but the exploits of our soldiers in that campaign have become legendary. It […]
Today I’m going to share one of the oldest postcards in my collection, one which also happens to include a message relating to New Zealanders fighting in the Boer War. It is one of a small group that I found in a junk shop as a teenager and […]
Today I thought I’d share a postcard that has a particularly fascinating story. It was sent by a New Zealander who was fighting in the trenches at Gallipoli. For my non-antipodean readers the Gallipoli campaign was this ill-fated Allied attempt to knock Turkey out of the First World […]
I’ve got an exciting series of posts coming up soon on life in wartime New Zealand including a guide to surviving aerial bombardments, a look at the threat of Japanese attacks and the resulting American invasion. Speaking of which – this month marks the 70th anniversary of the […]
Resurrecting the humour of yesteryear is a favourite pastime of mine – so today I thought I’d share a charming hundred year old postcard from my maritime collection. As usual, it also comes with an interesting back story.
