Postcards from Coriano

Recently students from the Istituto Comprensivo Comune di Coriano, took part in an initiative created especially for the CWGC and the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery.

Prior to their visit, the students consulted the CWGC database for the names and origins of the fallen buried in our cemeteries in Italy and read about the Battle of Coriano.

They then imagined writing “postcards from the front” as if the soldiers were sending them to their families, with each student choosing one of the many soldiers buried here and writing a postcard home in his voice. 

Some drew pictures, others added photographs, some were written in Italian and others in English, but all of them poured remarkable thought and empathy into their words. Their messages were so heartfelt that several CWGC colleagues were moved to tears.

One postcard in particular captured the raw humanity of those distant days:

“Dear Margaret,
How are you? And the children?
Do you have enough food at your mother’s house?
I’m writing to tell you that I don’t think I’ll make it this time. It’s a real siege here.
P.S. I miss you… and I love you.”

They brought the postcards to the Coriano Cemetery on the day of the 39,0000 trees for 2039 event which took place on 26 January and linked them together with a red thread. At the end of the event, they presented their postcards to the CWGC for the Rome office.

This student project reminds us why remembrance matters, ensuring history is not just a list of dates, but the lived experience of individuals and families and every name carved in stone is a life interrupted.