The letters poured in from around the UK, Ireland, Kenya, Australia, and America. Almost every county in England and Scotland was represented. London generated the most followed by the counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire.
They were written on anything senders had available: pages torn out of an exercise book, company invoice sheets, or embossed and headed notepaper. The desire to read Hope’s news cut across all section of society. The majority of the letters were written by women with only a small percentage from men. The greatest number expressed concern about their sons and husbands. a few mentioned brothers, nephews, friends, “sweethearts”, or fiances.
Whilst they were anxious to obtain the information for themselves, they were often keen to share the information with other members of their families but also within the wider community, friends, informal groups or POW Relatives’ Associations: an example in the pre-digital world of information sharing through “social networks.”
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