Kearney, Joseph

Letters home from soldiers during wartime are one the few tangible connections between the soldier - in the - trenches and the family and friends left behind. The letters received are actually written by the soldier and - relate his experiences in his own words (except for the occasional deletion by the official military censor). - The letters often contain information about people met, friends wounded or killed in battle, food rations, - clothing needs, impending furloughs or reports on past ones, or other daily activities. The letters - sometimes contain the innermost feelings of the soldier: sorrow at the loss of a friend, the sadness of - missing family members, the desire to return home, the hope that the war will end soon. - - - The letters home are usually from soldiers on active duty, either in training or at the front. This collection - contains letters like these, but the largest number are from a soldier, Joseph Kearney, after he had been - captured by the enemy and had been assigned to a prison camp. Some of them are in the form of - postcards where the soldier had to select from a number of choices and cross out those not appropriate - to the message he wished to communicate, but most are one-page handwritten letters. They convey - Kearney's attempt to re-assure his parents that he is well and for them to keep faith that he will be home - soon. - - - The collection also contains other letters, mainly to his parents from the British War Office, the Red Cross, - the War Comforts Committee and from a number of family members and friends. There is a small amount of - associated materials: clippings about Kearney and other Newfoundland soldiers, a booklet on Victoria - Cross winners, a Newfoundland Coat of Arms. The collection should prove worthwhile to those interested - in the lives of Newfoundland soldiers, prisoners-of-war during World War II. - - -