“I wonder if he will ever come back” ............. thoughts from 1916

Now in the course of the last few years I have come across a lot of picture postcards from the Great War.

And as you would expect they range from gentle comedy to the  risqué and suggestive with a fair dollop of sentimental and patriotic messages mixed with simple landscapes and those beautiful embroidered cards.

But I can’t make my mind up about this one.

It was sent in 1916 and while I can see the hint of humour it is a much darker and bitter comment.

The trouble is I have nothing to compare it with so I don’t know if it was part of a series or just a one off.

Given the date it was posted it might be easy to conclude that two years in to the war a degree of weariness and cynicism might have been tapped into by the image of what my Nana would have called a floozie.

And the message on the back expresses the wish that “it was all over and peace again but we must with patience till the sun shines and the daises bloom again.”

It was sent to the Iron Duke which in 1916 was the flagship of the Grand Fleet and the lead ship at the Battle of Jutland.

It had been commissioned in March 1914 and was one the dreadnought battleships serving through out the Great War.

All of which adds to the card which  comes from David Harrop's collection which includes memorabilia from both world wars and the history of the postal service, some of which is on permanent display in the Remembrance Lodge at Southern Cemetery.

I will ask David if he has any other such cards and until then await the experts to pile in and offer chapter and verse but in the meantime it remains an interesting card with a theme I shall return to.

Pictures; “I wonder if he will ever come back” circa 1916 from the collection of David Harrop