The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs

The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs is a manuscript collection made up of nearly 300 letters (written between 1915 and 1919). Hugh John Chevallier Peirs, known to his family as Jack, wrote the letters during the course of the First World War. Peirs was an officer in the 8th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) of the British Expeditionary Force. He served in on the western front in France and Belgium and remained with occupying forces for 7 months after armistice. During the course of the war, Peirs suffered from wounds by shrapnel, gunfire, and poison gas. He earned the Distinguished Service Order (with two bars) and was named a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

The physical collection is also composed of photographs, military documents, artifacts, newspaper clippings, and trench maps. This digital collection features the letter content at this time. 

Peirs wrote to his parents and three sisters both candidly and selectively, but his letters show no signs of alteration by the censor. The Peirs family kept the collection together and brought it to the United States. Jack Peirs’ great-grandson was a member of the Gettysburg College Class of 2014.

The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs: A Digital History was created by Associate Professor Ian Isherwood, College Archivist Amy Lucadamo, and Digital Initiatives Librarian R.C. Miessler to post the letters 100 years to the day they were written, and has expanded to the longest-running and most successful Digital Humanities project at Gettysburg College; you can visit the project at https://jackpeirs.org.