Soldiers' Use of Metaphor in Letters to Their Families in the First World War

Soldiers' letters to their families in the First World War have long been analysed by military historians eager to understand their subjects. Recent scholarship has also been attuned to the figures of speech employed by the letter writers. Drawing on existing methodologies proposed by historians of emotions, masculinity, and the military, I use a body of letters from an Australian soldier in France in 1916-1917 as a case study for uncovering the subtexts of the epistolary works. As such, this study contributes to our understanding of the epistolary tradition within the Australian Imperial Force.