View of Kilimanjaro on the road to Taveta, near the Tanzanian border with Kenya
We knew Kilimanjaro was there – we’d glimpsed it behind the clouds many times – but the first time we met for real was the day we left.
The early morning was fresh as washing on the line, with the great volcano high in the blue above us all. It was stunning.
The ‘in-box’ at the Post Office
(Photograph: Royal Mail courtesy of British Postal Museum & Archive)
Charlie was on active service and his little sister waited for news in Africa. It was 1915 and nearly Christmas.
The letter below was what went into the envelope eventually, and the Post Office then made sure that it arrived where it was meant to.
The Cavalry grazing horses on the Western Front (Creative Commons)
Photograph of the Western Front during the First World War. Official British war photographers took many for propaganda purposes.
From the papers of Field Marshal (Earl) Haig (1861-1928). The Haig Papers also contain Douglas Haig’s diaries.
It must have been hard to know what to say to your little sister in Africa when you were waiting to be sent into action during the First World War.
The Phraser 