Letters from a Sittingbourne woman to her husband fighting in the trenches during the First World War have been found amongst a bundle of items bought at auction.

Some 30 postcards from Beatrice Frances Dowman, of the town’s 1 Admiralty Terrace, to Frederick R Dowman were in the lot of 84 items bought by David Boyd via an online sale.

Her messages are written on the back of a series of Bamforth song cards.

The unique wartime greeting, sent from loved ones at home to “their boys” fighting abroad, were published in huge quantities between 1914 and 1918, mainly by companies operating in Britain and France.

Each one featured the verse of a well-known song or hymn from that era with a photographic image, usually of a loving couple or mother and her child, to illustrate the recipient was forever in their thoughts.

Mr Boyd now hopes to reunite the correspondence with surviving family members.

"They deserve to be treasured as key pieces of family history..." - David Boyd

The 65-year-old, from Cumbria, said: “They married in 1910 and in 1911 had a baby son, also named Frederick.

“They were both in their mid to late twenties at the time of the First World War and Beatrice and the infant were living in Beatrice’s parents' household which, at the time of the 1911 Census, had 15 inhabitants.

“Beatrice mentions sorrowfully in one of her cards dated August 1915 that her brother had recently been killed in action.

“This was Stephen John Page, aged 25. Two years later, on May 3, 1917, another of her brothers, Alfred George Page, also met his death in action, aged just 23.”

It seems Mr Dowman survived the war, as records show he died in Sittingbourne in 1953, aged 66. Beatrice died in 1966, aged 78.

Mr Boyd added: “I haven’t yet been able to trace any records of their son.

“If there are any surviving family members who may be interested to know of these cards, I’ll gladly donate to them the particular card illustrated. They deserve to be treasured as key pieces of family history.

“There are also another few cards dating to a few years before the First World War from a Frederick James Jenner, seemingly working in Belfast at the time, to his family at 184 Invicta Road, Mile Town, Sheerness.

“I haven’t studied the contents of these too closely as yet.

“Similarly, if anyone recalls this person or his family, please get in touch.”

For more details about Mr Boyd’s surprising discovery, email oncebubbles@gmail.com

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