Stirling never did manage to get away, but ended the war as a prisoner in Colditz.

Stirling was in the cell after one of his many attempts to escape from his prisoner of war camp. True to form, the dead-pan Stirling grumbles that it was ‘peculiarly exasperating’ to be caught in the final stages of the campaign.

A fun find from the correspondence of Churchill’s son Randolph, especially for anyone who’s watched SAS: Rogue Heroes. This postcard was sent to Randolph by SAS founder Lt-Col David Stirling from a cell in Italy in 1943. 📷 From the Papers of Randolph Churchill, RDCH 1/1/2

George notes that Jack is relieved to be "finally getting out of the way of the German artillery", but fearful about the possibility of returning to the trenches in a few days' time. He also took the time to underline for emphasis that the cheese he ate during this holiday was "very good"!

This letter has quite a different tone to most of the archival material we have from the First World War, and indeed most of Jack's letters, as he was permitted to leave the trenches for a short trip to the French coast in October 1916 ...

Our last post this week is another WW1 letter from Jack Oughtred's archive, this time chosen by ARU student George Hayman ...

Phyllis also witnessed the war but from a different angle, as she was nursing injured soldiers back home in Hull. We'll post another letter from this collection tomorrow!

Jack was 20 when the First World War started, and rose from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Captain by 1917. He wrote over 100 letters to his then-fiancée Phyllis throughout the war, and the letters eventually made their way into our archives ...

Yesterday we posted an extract from one of Jack Oughtred's letters describing conditions during the Battle of the Somme, as part of our series marking the Somme's 110th anniversary. Here's the only photograph of Jack in the collection, alongside a photo of his wife, Phyllis Bentham ... 🧵

"To me this is intriguing: would Phyllis, who was working with injured soldiers, be more or less worried about Jack than those who were kept in the dark about the nature of the war?" We'll be posting more items from Jack's archive later this week.

"Jack notes that he is only able to send her letters when he is out of the trenches, which was the reality for many soldiers. Those awaiting news at home must have felt stressed by these long periods of silence ...

Eve comments: "This letter was received by Phyllis Bentham, who worked at a naval hospital in Hull, treating injured soldiers during the war. So when Jack wrote about being in the trenches, she would know that it was no exaggeration ...

This letter from Lieutenant Jack Oughtred was chosen by ARU History student Eve Gore, as part of our social media series commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Somme. Written just 6 days before the end of the Battle, Jack's letter is frank about conditions in November 1916 ...