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The Caroline Skeel Archives Reading Room

The text below the image reads:

Dear Kätchen (Katie), Your father sends you a loving "hallo" from the trenches on this Saturday. And to Mummy and your brother and sister.

The sketch depicts Fritz taking a break from duty as a field telephonist in 1917. Entitled ‘a safe place’, Fritz attempts to reassure his young daughter about his well-being on the front line. Field telephones operated over wire lines, often using wires strung in combat conditions. Equipment for laying the wire ranged from reels on backpacks to trucks equipped with plows to bury lines.

Gallery:
Remembering the First World War: Front Line

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