They were the unappetising biscuits meant to sustain soldiers in the trenches during World War One. But for some these basic emergency rations were used for something far more poignant – a way to send messages of love and hope back home. More than a century later, surviving examples of these fragile snacks can be viewed in Leeds.
Inscribing what may have been his final words, Pte William Maxwell, a soldier with the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers, carved a personal message on the surface of his Army biscuit.
Dating from 1914 and still tucked in its original wrapper, it was addressed to his mother, Margaret Maxwell, of Meanwood in Leeds. On it, he wrote: “Christmas dinner in the Army. Give us this day our daily bread and please put a bit of butter on. From Max.”
Several months later, in May 1915, Pte Maxwell – the son of of GE and Margaret Maxwell – was killed, with his body buried in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery in northern France.