An extraordinary collection of postcards sent to a Boulder woman from men serving on the front line of World War One will go on display at the Western Australian Museum – Perth from April 22, to commemorate ANZAC Day.

WA Museum history curator Stephen Anstey said six soldiers serving in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during WWI sent more than one hundred postcards to home-nurse Eliza ‘Lida’ Jane Downey while training or on active duty overseas.

“The postcards were sent by six young soldiers, most serving with Western Australian battalions,” Mr Anstey said. “Three were relatives of Lida's, and three were friends from Kalgoorlie-Boulder, two of which were clearly admirers.

“Sadly most were killed, wounded or medically incapacitated while serving on the Western Front, and Lida’s correspondence is missing, so it’s unknown if the surviving men had any contact with her on their return to Western Australia,” he said.

During the war, writing to troops was encouraged by the Government as a way of keeping soldiers’ morale high.

Mr Anstey said the men’s messages, while short and subject to censorship, provide a glimpse of their lives during service and their impressions of the countries in which they fought.

“The postcards themselves vary from the sentimental, scenic and humorous, through to the patriotic and overtly propagandistic,” he said.

The exhibition also reveals the extraordinary story of each soldier’s service, very little of which was known prior to the meticulous research conducted by the Museum’s history department.

“What these men endured is something current generations are unlikely to ever experience and their sacrifice is something we, especially around ANZAC Day, should remember,” Mr Anstey said.

Kalgoorlie miner Jack Bonney was one of Lida’s admirers and the most prolific of the correspondents, sending Lida countless postcards during his service abroad.

“Jack enlisted in the AIF in 1915, aged 22 and served on the Western Front with the 12th Light Trench Mortar Battery from July 1916. He survived the bloody battle of Pozieres but was hospitalised in England with a severe ear infection caused by the appalling conditions in the trenches. He was repatriated to Australia and discharged from the AIF partially deaf on 14th September 1917,” Mr Anstey said.

“Another admirer, Bob Gay, was a miner from Boulder who lived in the same street as Lida. He enlisted on 21st February 1916, aged 18, serving with the 44th Battalion on the Western Front, suffering a gunshot wound to the right foot at the Battle of Messines in Belgium.”

Sadly, Bob was killed on the 29th September 1918 during what was described as ‘an arduous bombing match’ in the assault on the formidable Hindenburg Line.

Postcards were also sent by Private Alfred Thomas Baldock, a 22-year-old miner from Boulder who enlisted in 1916 and served mostly with the 44th Battalion; Driver ‘Joe’ Joseph Jackson, a grocer from Victoria Park who enlisted at age 19; and Lida’s cousin, Archie Ritchie, who enlisted in 1916 in Ballarat, Victoria, aged 18.

Lida also received two postcards from an ‘Uncle Jack’ serving with the AIF, who is thought to be a parental sibling, though his identity remains a mystery.

One Hundred Postcards will be on display in the Western Australian Museum – Perth foyer from April 22 – 28.

Media contact:
Niki Comparti
Western Australian Museum
6552 7805, niki.comparti@museum.wa.gov.au