Defiant First World War postcards show the unbreakable spirit of the British people during German bombing raids
Collection reveals defiant sense of humour even in one of our darkest hours
SAUCY postcards show how Brits kept their spirits up while they faced German bombing raids in the First World War.
A collection of 200 reveal a defiant sense of humour in the face of the threat from above.
Belonging to aviation expert David Marks the fascinating archive has been brought together for a new book.
He explained: "Comic postcards were produced by talented artists, as publishers quickly moved to reflect the many challenges to the everyday lives of the public.
"They reinforced the belief that Britons everywhere could cope and, eventually, conquer the Zeppelin threat."
He told how during the war people caught in bombing raids often sent the cards to loved ones to let them know they survived.
One cheeky card sees an excited dog with his tongue out seeking shelter under a woman's dress with the caption “taking cover is all right”.
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Another shows a smartly dressed gent admiring three shapely ladies.
On one the German Kaiser is portrayed as a Zeppelin, and referred to as The Gasbag.
Several of the postcards feature children bravely sitting in the open-air under an umbrella in a sign of defiance.
There is one of a kneeling child in her bedroom saying the following prayer: "Please keep the Zepps away tonight, keep me safe till morning light, and if you see the Kaiser bending, please put a bomb beneath his ending."
A fierce lady with her arms on her hips makes the defiant challenge: “I would like to see the German who would dare drop a bomb of me”.
David amassed his collection over the last 30 years at antique fairs and auctions.
The 50-year-old explained that the saucy postcards only started being produced after a government crackdown on ones that showed the damage from air raids.
He said: "Everything illustrated in this book is from my own collection, at the heart of which is my archive of postcards.
"Postcards of the damage caused by the raids were quickly produced and circulated in the early months of the campaign, before the government began to censor such output.
"There were also images of large groups of soldiers and civilians, young and old, standing amid the devastated ruins of their towns and villages, or posing in bomb craters or with the bombs themselves.”
The first Zeppelin raid over Britain was on January 19, 1915, with Norfolk coming under attack.
By the end of year there had been 20 raids on Britain which left more than 200 people dead and 500 injured.
Let The Zeppelins Come by David Marks is published by Amberley books and costs £14.99.
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