An art exhibition inspired by love letters between two gay World War Two soldiers has opened in Oswestry Town Museum.
Hundreds of the messages were sent between Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher during the war.
Artist Megan Hayward collected love letters from people across the county and turned them into audio for the display, which is open to the public until September 28.
“We just put a call out to hear stories from across the decades… someone came forward with love letters that their grandmother had received,” she said.
“They were also around the 1940s to do with Park Hall Camp, different men that had come and had danced with this guy’s grandmother.
“They’re so identical to the way that the Gordon and Gilbert ones are written.
“It really just is a prime example about how love is love, even in the 1940s.”
Megan created a living room setting where visitors sit on a chair and pick up an old rotary phone which plays audio versions of the letters.
She said: “Now everything’s so instant, if you don’t get a reply within an hour you think: ‘Have I done something wrong?’
“I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like back then, waiting weeks for a letter and a hope that you’re still loved.
“We also got some more modern stories, people telling me how their parents met.”
The love letters between Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher were sent between the two gay soldiers while Gilbert was stationed in Oswestry during World War Two.
Gilbert was in love with Gordon, who was stationed at various locations across the country, at a time when gay activity was a court-martial offence.
The letters emerged after Mr Bradley’s death in 2008, when a house clearance company sold them to a dealer specialising in military mail.
An excerpt from one of the letters:
Wednesday January 24th 1939
My darling,
… I lie awake all night waiting for the postman in the early morning, and then when he does not bring anything from you I just exist, a mass of nerves…
All my love forever,
G.
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