The Green Envelope

Description

The Green Envelope. Letters from soldiers on active service were subjected to censorship by their junior officers to ensure that details such as location and military objectives were not disclosed. However, as a privilege, soldiers were given one green envelope per month in which they could send uncensored personal and private letters to loved ones.
The soldier had to sign to verify that they had only included private and family matters. The letters were not opened or read by regimental censors but as a deterrent a random sample were opened at HQ and if a soldier had betrayed the trust placed in him he would be court-martialled and punished.
J M Davies wrote his message in Welsh. It was badly translated and subsequently J M Davies was accused of being a spy, court-martialled and sent out to wander in No Man’s Land over several nights. A Welsh-speaking sergeant heard of his plight and the letter was retranslated and the matter sorted.
J. M. Davies kept a piece of the envelope in memory of that potentially fateful incident.