Keepsakes
Do you want it as a souvenir?’
Army doctor to Private Harry Patch after removing shrapnel, 1917
Families grieved for their dead in their own ways. Many kept some memento such as a photograph. Stories of heroic actions were told and perhaps exaggerated in the telling. Every family received an official commemoration in the form of a memorial plaque or ‘widow’s penny’.
If a soldier died, his belongings might be returned to his family – or they might be taken by other servicemen on the basis that they were no use to a dead man.
Where possible, teams went out to recover or bury bodies, and to collect one of the identity tags worn by all servicemen (the other was left on the body so it might be identified later). Personal items in his pockets – a Prayer Book, photographs of family, Soldier’s Service Book – would be collected to be sent home.
A mother or wife might treasure these small souvenirs for life, keeping them with the serviceman’s medals, letters and regimental insignia.