Dirty border silk panel postcard, bearing the name and Latin motto of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, posted from Somme, 1916
Silk postcards, seen as things of beauty in a harsh war environment, were very popular in World War 1. The embroidery was done by women in France and Belgium. The image strips were sent to factories for cutting and mounting on postcards. Thousands of designs were produced. There were two principal formats: panel style with rectangle of embroidery mesh fixed to the card; and envelope style in which a panel could be opened to reveal a small card inside. Here we see an embroidered panel postcard bearing the regimental insignia and Latin motto ('Virtutis Fortuna Comes'/'Fortune Favours The Brave') of the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment. It bears the date '12/07/16', being posted from the Somme by a soldier in the 7th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. A shot taken under natural light conditions.
Size: 2902px × 4580px
Location: Somme Battlefield, Picardy, France, World War 1, Western Front, July, 1916
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1916, battle, battlefield, france, picardy, postcard, regiment, somme, souvenir
