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Georgia Eglezou, Open University, United KingdomAbstract
The writing of letters to soldiers at the front was crucial for their morale during WW1. Women corresponded with soldiers to raise their morale and keep them in contact with life away from the front. In addition, they sent parcels which were a “welcome supplement” to their rations. These activities were organised via female groups, called sisterhoods (sorority). Sisterhoods had strict rules in order for the situation to remain “within limits”. The people involved used nicknames. In most of the cases the correspondence continued for years but the people involved never met. Despite this they shared deep thoughts and feelings in their exchanges. Members of a sisterhood usually wrote to numerous soldiers. The present paper is a case study of the unpublished correspondence between a young woman from Smyrna in Asia Minor, a member of a sisterhood, and a Greek soldier. Their correspondence followed the soldier in his journey throughout Asia Minor and later in mainland Greece. Later, in his life the ex-soldier gathered and copied all their letters in a notebook that he kept until he handed them to his sister for preservation. The methodology will be a qualitative analysis of the letters bringing to light the main themes that occupied the two correspondents during the Asia Minor War between the Greeks and Turks up until the collapse of the Greek front.
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