When soldiers wanted to write a letter without it being screened by the censors it had to be smuggled out of the combat zone, which meant all of Europe. Soldiers would rely on the sick and wounded to smuggle out letters un-censored. They also found that they could mail letters uncensored if they were mailed from England during one of their infrequent leaves. The war saw over 65,000,000 men mobilized. In the four years of war, so many of these men wrote letters and diaries, so much of this material exists today. Granted it is not all literature, and because of censors little of this material is un-varnished or anything but small talk, but that is what the men needed and choose to write. Their loneliness and desperate need to stay in timely connection to the lives of their friends and loved ones at home jumps off the pages of their letters. Those looking for “gory details” should remember the censors, and that only a small proportion of the 65,000,000 actually served in combat. Plus, as a rule the closer you got to the front ( what ever front) the greater control that the military government had over the actual troops activities and soldiers lives. The vast proportion of the military was in the rear safe in dull support or training. These soldiers suffered more rear area martinets, and more “spit and polish” discipline, but they also had more time, and opportunity for personal expression, and more freedom to explore and mingle. For Americans especially (this opened up the world), even if few of the soldiers traveled again, they knew a world outside of “Grover’s Corners” existed. Little did they know or suspect that little over 20 years later their sons would be fighting over the very same battle ground in France and Belgium.

and knew that public opinion would determine the ability of a government to survive and it’s ability to prosecute the war. It became government policy to present the war in the best possible light.

      The governments encouraged pro- government, pro-war journalists, and newspapers. As an example W. Beach Thomas writing in the “Daily Mirror” (later known as the “Daily Prevaricator” by front line troops) on November 22, 1916, reports that British soldiers even lie on the battlefield differently: “Even as he lies on the field he looks more quietly faithful, more simply steadfast than others.” He looks especially modest and gentlemanly too, “as if he had taken care while he died that there should be no parade in his bearing, no heroics in his posture.” This was written nine days after the four month battle of the “Somme” ended, the British Army alone suffered over 420,000 casualties, with 58,000 casualties on the first day.*3

      Compulsory education also meant that almost all soldiers and their families could read and write, therefore W W 1 was the first war to feature the wide spread use of the personal letters and postcards. All the authorities realized the benefits to soldiers, their families and the public morale, so they set up elaborate postal systems to deliver mail and packages in a prompt and timely manner. They made sure that the mail found the soldiers where ever they were transferred. For example in the week of October 30, 1914, the British Army Postal Service delivered 2,087 bags of mail to France. By 1917 the service was delivering 8,926,831 letters from the Western front to England weekly

  All the authorities demanded that the soldiers letters be Routinely screened by censors, mostly they were concerned with military information, things like unit strength, unit locations, shipping dates etc. But of equal importance to them was the tone of the letters, things frowned on by the authorities were, overt gloom, and any questioning of the authorities or any criticism of higher officers, it was forbidden to include anything that would disturb the public good. As a general principle soldiers self-screened their letters. They tried to keep those at home from the truth at the front. They felt that the “public’ ( even their loved ones ) could little understand or even want to comprehend their existence.