Decorated in the field ... craft of the Green Howards

But a more sensitive side to Britain’s soldiers will be on display when a North Yorkshire military museum reveals drawings, paintings, letters and poems they have sent to loved ones while serving in foreign fields.

Curators at the Green Howards Regimental Museum in Richmond are searching for photographs of the servicemen’s creative work so they can be put on the internet in an online exhibition.

The exhibition has been inspired by the museum’s existing collection of crafts made by Green Howards soldiers – who were amalgamated into the Yorkshire Regiment as its 2nd Battalion in 2006 – while serving away from their loved ones in conflicts across the world.

Among the pieces already on display at the museum are three intricately-made heart-shaped Forget-Me-Not pin cushions, including one by soldier, John Robson Barugh, who is believed to have fashioned it while recovering from injuries suffered during the First World War after records revealed he was in hospital in January 1915 and again in October 1916.

One of them features a poignant poem called Golden Sun, by an anonymous author, which reads: “When the golden sun is sinking; and your mind from care is free; when of others you are thinking; will you sometimes think of me.”

The collection also features a belt sash made by a soldier in the Boer War, as well as intricately-embroidered table cloths and miniature tapestries.

Lynda Powell, the museum’s director and curator, said: “We want to create an online exhibition and now, just before Valentine’s Day, seems like the perfect time to start working on it. All of these fantastic pieces of craft were made out of love, and invariably sent home to sweethearts.

“The idea is of a tough soldier fighting but an alternative side of their personality is portrayed through these objects. We are trying to promote another side of being a soldier and perhaps attract a different audience to our website that wouldn’t normally look at a military site.”

Miss Powell’s favourite piece of the museum’s current collection is two drawings on scraps of uniform worn by soldiers in the Boer War, which were sent to loved ones as birthday cards.

“They are very faint and you can just see them but they are really beautiful. All these things have been made by the soldiers to show that they are thinking about people at home by making something special for them,” she said. The soldiers are believed to have worked on the arts and crafts in their spare time – often when injured or while awaiting their next assignment.

“When you go on operations overseas there may be months of fighting but a lot of time sat around waiting for the next thing to happen and this is a way of filling in time,” said Miss Powell.

“Many will also have been made by wounded soldiers in hospital when they had more time on their hands to discover their creative side.

“Soldiers have always done bits of craft to wile away the hours really. During World War One there was a lot of trench art, where soldiers took bits of bullets and clusters from shells and doctored them. Soldiers today will have similar experiences to that.

“I presume they learn the skills from each other but have got to sew on buttons and badges and things so I guess they are transferring these skills into something more creative.”

While the museum collection is limited to work crafted by Green Howards soldiers, Miss Powell is keen to receive photographs of work from other regiments across the country. She is also looking for exhibits from the modern day, as well as historical artefacts.

She said: “Obviously we just display Green Howards history in the museum but the exhibition can extend beyond that. We would be delighted to hear from any soldiers with a piece of craft.

“I’m sure there’s an awful lot of material out there but because it is so precious I suspect a lot of family members keep hold of it. While we don’t want to take precious items from families, it would be lovely to have a record of this material.”

The exhibition follows on from a treasure-trove of letters, photographs and cards detailing how soldiers spent Christmas while serving their country overseas during the past two centuries unearthed by researchers as it places its collection of some 40,000 photographs onto a new online database.

It is expected to be launched in March.

Any creative work should be photographed and emailed to director@greenhowards.org.uk