I want you all now to help me to send a Christmas present from the whole nation to every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front.
Presents for the Troops
In 1914, Princess Mary created a fund to give a Christmas gift to every British Empire soldier and sailor in 1914. Through her appeal, she raised £152691 – a whopping £14,556,918 today. Mary’s gifts therefore reached every person “wearing the King’s uniform” on Christmas Day.
This tin, which was received by Private Herbert Hall from the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, still has most of its original contents inside. The two packages at the bottom of the tin contain twenty cigarettes and an ounce of tobacco. These gifts also came with a pipe and a tinder lighter. Hubert’s tin also includes the original card from Princess Mary, and a photograph of her. Herbert kept other things in his tin as well, possibly for safekeeping. These include a boat ticket stamped for the 2nd of June (though we’re not sure which year).
Many soldiers who received Princess Mary’s gift tins did not use the contents. They sometimes sent the whole gift home for safekeeping.
A Christmas Gift for everyone
This gift tin represents the standard present which most British and Gurkha soldiers and sailors received. However, it was recognised that not everyone would appreciate receiving tobacco. A small proportion of the tins held other contents. For British soldiers who didn’t smoke, the tins included acid tablets (sour lemony sweets), and materials for writing letters. Most Indian soldiers received cigarettes, a box of spices, and some sugar sweets. Sikh soldiers, however, did not smoke for religious reasons, so their gifts did not include tobacco. Nurses, meanwhile, received chocolate and a card.
Around400,000 gifts were sent out before Christmas Day 1914. By the end of 1920, two and a half million gift boxes were given out. The tradition of giving gift boxes to British soldiers continues today through Operation Christmas Box.
