Tag Archives: Green envelope

Letters from soldiers on active service were subject to censorship but, as a privilege, soldiers were also given one green envelope per month in which they could send uncensored personal and private letters.

17 January 1918; Thursday

Abridged, January 1918, , ,

My 28th Birthday     Up about 7.30. A lot of patients in for breakfast. Kept busy all day and a record day. Over 140 patients altogether. A stretcher wounded case in at night. I had two green envelopes1 given me by a patient and wrote a letter home at night. Received a letter and card and photo group with Billy Peake on it from home. Went to bed about midnight.

  1. Green envelopes: Letters from soldiers on active service were subject to censorship but, as a privilege, soldiers were also given one green envelope per month in which they could send uncensored personal and private letters. If unused, perhaps these green envelopes were a gift to ALL, hence ALL’s letter home later this day? ↩

18 November 1916; Saturday

November 1916, ,

Bedfords moved off about 8 o’clock. We spent the day by ourselves. Had roast fowl for dinner and plenty of toast† and good grub. Went to bed about 10 o’clock after writing a long letter home from a green envelope1 which we found amongst some dead soldiers’ papers. Brooks and Kinross brought rations for us in the rain.

  1. Green envelope: Letters from soldiers on active service were subject to censorship but, as a privilege, soldiers were also given one green envelope per month in which they could send uncensored personal and private letters. Evidently green envelopes were a valued resource, hence ALL’s use of this one left unused by its unfortunate owner. ↩