Crackers used by Australian soldiers to send messages to loved ones back home offer a fascinating insight into life on the front lines.
The notoriously tough snacks were decorated with string, colored, or simply scribbled on with black ink, and sometimes had photos attached.
They are part of the collection of about 25 ‘decorated’ biscuits and crackers and a dozen originals, on display at the Australian War Museum in Canberra.
Crackers used by Australian soldiers to send messages to loved ones back home offer a fascinating insight into life on the front lines
‘Dear Nell, how would this do for standing the iron on, eh?’ one sent from Egypt in August 1915 read
‘Dear Nell, how would this do for standing the iron on, eh?’ one sent from Egypt in August 1915 read.
‘Would give anything for a dip in the old river or a trip in the boat. Fearfully hot here.’
Using crackers and biscuits as writing material was common among British and Commonwealth soldiers in World War I and also World War II and the Boer War.
They came from as far and wide as Gallipoli, Egypt, France, Belgium, and even Britain where soldiers were training.
Nick Fletcher, head of military heraldry and technology at the Australian War Memorial, said soldiers used anything they could to send messages home
Some of the notoriously tough snacks were decorated with string and ammunition and some included photos
Using crackers and biscuits as writing material was common among British and Commonwealth soldiers in World War I and also World War II and the Boer War
They came from as far and wide as Gallipoli, Egypt, France, Belgium, and even Britain where soldiers were training
‘Paper of all sorts was particularly scarce and what there was tended to be in urgent demand for toilet purposes, with letter writing coming a close second,’ he said.
‘For this reason, the Australian War Memorial has a variety of postcards or letters written from there by ingenious soldiers on biscuits, cardboard packaging, pieces of timber, and even the flannel fabric issued for cleaning rifles.
‘Army biscuits were notoriously tough, so even before the Gallipoli campaign some soldiers were sending them through the post as a bit of a joke, or to give their families at home some idea of what Army rations were like.’
They are part of the collection of about 25 ‘decorated’ biscuits and crackers and a dozen originals, on display at the Australian War Museum in Canberra