First World War drawings: Bunty and Marmaduke

A hand-drawn image of two little rabbits in a rowing boat, rowing towards a lighthouse. Text at the bottom of the page reads:

My dear little Joan,
Bunty and Marmaduke have got a little boat now so they are going for a row, and they want to get as far as the lighthouse if they can. They must have heard that you saw me. I hope they will get there, don't you.
Lots of love and kisses xxxxxxxx from Daddy

Intro

Teacher notes
- This drawing shows Bunty and Marmaduke in their little boat, rowing towards a lighthouse. It looks like quite a nice day and the sea is very calm.
  
  Recently re-discovered at the Littlehampton Museum, Bunty and Marmaduke are the creations of Sergeant AC Gray, a medical sergeant from the First World War. At the bottom of the page you can see a little note he wrote to his daughter Joan explaining what the rabbits were up to.
  
  Sergeant Gray was stationed at the huge Seaford Military Camp during the war, it was a training facility with a hospital and was designed to house over 18,000 troops. Sergeant Gray would have had to leave his family to go and work here, tending to the soldiers who came back from the war.
  
  This is just one of a number of drawings and notes, each telling the story of Bunty and Marmaduke and each written to amuse his young daughter, Joan.
  
  You can see more of the letters and drawings and learn more about Sergeant Gray and his daughter Joan over on Museum Crush.
  
  In case you can't read the sergeant's writing, here is what the note says:
  
  My dear little Joan,
  Bunty and Marmaduke have got a little boat now so they are going for a row, and they want to get as far as the lighthouse if they can. They must have heard that you saw me. I hope they will get there, don't you.
  Lots of love and kisses xxxxxxxx from Daddy
- These letters and drawings illustrate what life was like for the families of those soldiers whisked off to war. Sergeant Gray works hard to keep his communication with his daughter very light and happy but his life at the Military Camp was probably very hard. You can read more letters to loved ones with the Imperial War Museum.
  
  Life would also have been very hard for the families left behind, you can learn more about what it was like to be a child during World War I with the Black Country Living Museum.

First World War drawings: Bunty and Marmaduke

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