Dear mother: letters, loss and motherly love during World War I
1915, Paddington, London. Your 20-year-old son Dudley is serving on the Western Front in World War I. Most days he has written you a letter, requesting items and letting you know how he is going. But it’s been a few days since his last letter, which came with the alarming news that he was moving closer to the firing line.
Experience a day in the life of Katherine Stewart-Smith, as she manages her emotions, family-life and life in late Edwardian Britain during the First World War.
Episode Highlights & Timestamps:
* 00:00 – Introduction to Katherine and the morning routine
* 03:30 – Revisiting Paddington Station, where Katherine last saw Dudley
* 05:04 – House and home: Katherine’s domestic life, Dudley’s most recent letters and keeping up appearances
* 10:30 – A trip into town
* 11:08 – News from the Western Front
* 11:49 – Living in the present, with the children at your side
* 13:49 – Dinner and evening routine
References & Further Reading:
* https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/research/soldiers-stories/dear-mother/ [https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/research/soldiers-stories/dear-mother/]
Credits:
* With thanks to James Stewart-Smith, grandson of Dudley Cauley Stewart-Smith for providing the transcribed letters between Dudley and his mother and his diary as a Prisoner of War to aide research for this story.
* Opening and closing music: 'Esmerelda's Waltz' from Dusan Bogdanovic's Book of Unknown Standards, played by Daniel McKay, used with permission of the performer.
* Other copyright and royalty-free music and sound effects self-created, or from: freesound_community [https://pixabay.com/users/freesound_community-46691455/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=27730], Alexander Jauk [https://pixabay.com/users/alex_jauk-16800354/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=227014], Universfield [https://pixabay.com/users/universfield-28281460/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=352062], Scottish Guy [https://pixabay.com/users/scottishperson-16626294/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=248534] sourced from Pixabay [https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=27730]; other music: 'His eye is on the sparrow'; 'Schubert Moment Musical', 'Old Photo' sourced from ClipChamp.
Contact & Feedback:
* Email: walksintime@gmail.com [walksintime@gmail.com]
* https://walksintime.podbean.com/ [https://walksintime.podbean.com/]
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