Soldiers’ moving biscuit messages are food for thought this Christmas

Dating from 1914, one of the biscuits currently stored at the Leeds Discovery Centre may have been the final contact Private William Maxwell had with his family before his tragic death.

Still tucked in its original wrapper and addressed to Mrs Maxwell of Meanwood, the sender’s mother, it bears the message “Christmas dinner in the Army. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ and please put a bit of butter on. From Max.”

Private William Maxwell (service number 4492) served with the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers and was the son of G.E. and Margaret Maxwell.

Sadly, this was his only Christmas in the trenches as he was killed in May 1915 and was buried in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery in Northern France.

Records show his younger brother Arthur Maxwell also died serving his country during the first month of combat on August 30, 1914.

Private Maxwell was not the only soldier to employ trench biscuits as makeshift stationery, with the notoriously stale biscuits reflecting a common criticism of the food offered to British troops on the Western Front.

Another more elaborately decorated biscuit, also stored at the Leeds Discovery Centre, and also from 1914, is beautifully painted with an image of a battleship and carries an inscription that reads ‘Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a bright new year’.

Kitty Ross, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of social history, said: “Seeing Christmas messages written and sent home by soldiers from the front lines gives us a very real and thought-provoking insight into life in the trenches of the First World War.

“That they would seemingly rather have used these biscuits to share a joke with their loved ones than eat them speaks volumes about both the quality of the food and how much they must have wanted to stay in touch at a time of year when they would doubtless have felt the distance between them more keenly than ever.

“It’s a privilege to preserve their stories and memories and to revisit their Christmas sentiments over the festive season.”

As well as the biscuit messages, other festive objects which have been recently donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries include a late 1960s Cutie doll, gifted to a child whose family was homeless in 1969 as part of the Leeds and District Workpeople’s Hospital Fund’s annual Christmas appeal. It still carries the note “To Denise Xmas 1969, from mummy and dad.”

Also part of the collection is a set of Mickey Mouse Christmas tree lights as well as some brightly coloured glass baubles manufactured by Morley’s Briteglass Ltd. The Jay-Tee brand glass Christmas tree decorations were owned by local couple Herbert and Maud Storer who married in 1944.

The doll and tree decorations will be on display at Leeds City Museum this Christmas while the biscuit messages are available to view at Leeds Discovery Centre on request.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “Each of these objects has meant something unique and special to the people who once owned them, but they all encapsulate the timeless tradition of Christmas bringing people together.

“It’s fascinating to see these different generations and their experiences of the festive season represented in our collection.”

The Leeds Discovery Centre is open to the public for pre-booked tours and is a Give What You Can museum, where visitors are invited to donate to support the museum if they are able.

Donations can be made when booking a tour online, and with cash and coins in a donation box in reception. 

For more details please visit: Visit Leeds Discovery Centre | Leeds Museums and Galleries | Days out and exhibitions

ENDS