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, in time for Anzac Day.

More than 100 postcards were sent from six young soldiers serving in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to home-nurse Eliza ‘Lida’ Jane Downey.

WA Museum history curator Stephen Anstey said the postcards were sent from the soldiers while they were training and on active duty overseas.

“Three of the correspondents were relatives of Lida's and three were friends from Kalgoorlie-Boulder, two of which were clearly admirers,” Mr Anstey said.

“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 exhibition 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.

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

The most prolific writer was one of Lida’s admirers, Kalgoorlie miner Jack Bonney, who enlisted in the AIF in 1915 at the age of 22, and served on the Western Front from July 1916.  After surviving the bloody battle of Pozieres he was hospitalised in England with a severe ear infection, then repatriated to Australia and discharged from the AIF partially deaf in September 1917.

One Hundred Postcards will be on display at the WA Museum – Perth until Sunday 10 May 2015.  The WA Museum – Perth will be open on Anzac Day from 1pm to 5pm, and daily from 9.30am to 5pm.

Media contact

Sharna Craig

Media and Publicity Officer

Western Australian Museum

sharna.craig@museum.wa.gov.au