War diary from 1939 with posters and Christmas cards

After war was declared against Nazi Germany in 1939, part of the British Army, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was sent to France. By mid-1940 it had created over 1,400 war diaries. These were intended to keep a historical record and to help improve army practices in future.

This one was compiled by the BEF General Headquarters Intelligence Branch during the 1939–40 campaign in France and Belgium. In November 1939 it was based at Avesnes-le-Comte, near Arras in northern France.

The two posters pictured were part of a set that was folded and tagged inside the October 1939 section of the document, with tag holes visible on the right of each picture. They warned troops not to reveal military secrets, along the lines of ‘careless talk costs lives’. The name of the artist is difficult to identify but it might be Gerald Lacoste (1908–1983).

A November 1939 entry in the diary discusses restricting the words permitted on Christmas cards sent from the BEF. It suggests that the words ‘British Expeditionary Force’ should not be printed on cards (though the sender could write them on if they wanted), and that a named unit could not be associated with its higher formation, meaning its position in the army. This typescript page is typical of the contents of war diaries from the time.

An example of a Christmas card with the initials ‘GHQ BEF’ (but not the words spelled out) was included in the December section. Another Christmas card, sent from South Africa, was addressed to British troops in France via the War Office in London.

Though you will occasionally see pictorial items in war diaries, they are not normally mentioned in our catalogue, so finding them is often a matter of chance. They are, however, more commonly found within headquarters branches’ records rather than units such as battalions or regiments. As our research guidance explains, you can search in our online catalogue to look for the more likely types of documents.