Surprised they got through. [SIZE=14.4px]"Penned in the trenches to the sound of gunfire, these postcards offer a harrowing first-hand account of the Battle of the Somme.[/SIZE] [SIZE=14.4px]Private Charles Haynes was roughly 25 years old when he sent the handwritten notes to his wife waiting for him at home in Sheffield. [/SIZE] [SIZE=14.4px]While many wrote of how he missed his 'dearest Emily' and their 'wee girls', the soldier also shared the horrors of life on the Western Front. [/SIZE] [SIZE=14.4px]He recounted how he helped recover soldiers 'with arms gone and legs gone' and described how shells were 'dropping all the time'. However he bravely insisted: 'I wouldn't have missed it for anything'. [/SIZE] The collection of nine postcards, which recently sold for £800 at auction are a rare example of a report that documented the realities of living on the frontline as censors were in place to prevent bad news reaching the home front. Illustrations on the front of the postcards show uniformed Allied troops romancing with young women at home. On one occasion Pte Haynes told 'Em' how he wished they could be together like the couples, and asked her not to throw away his correspondence. Auctioneer Chris Aubrey said: 'There were many horrific battles in the First World War but within these the Battle of the Somme, still the largest battle on the Western Front, stands out as particularly tragic. 'Postcards like this series of eye-witness notes home make for very sombre and poignant reading. The jolly pictures on the fronts of the postcards jar with the tragic content of the messages written. 'WWI letters and diaries still command a lot of collecting interest and there was keen interest with these going beyond estimate to finally sell for £800 to a private collector.'" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3615088/There-s-not-left-tell-tale-Harrowing-postcards-Tommy-sweetheart-reveal-horrors-Somme-century-on.html#ixzz4A5OfSwEc
