145-year-old letter, delivered by balloon, turns up in Australia
SYDNEY: A letter from a man to hismotherflownoutofParisbyhot air balloon during the Prussian siege in 1870 has turned up in Australia’s National Archives, which said yesterday it was keen to discover the family’s fate.
The Franco-Prussian War saw the Germans completely surround Paris for more than four months that year.
Balloon mail was the only way communicationsfromPariscould reach the rest of France, with dozens of flights made, mostly at night, and hundreds of thousands of letters delivered.
Oneofthemhasbeendiscovered by the National Archives. It was penned in French on December 6, 1870 by a man named Charles Mesnier (or Mesmier) to his mother,careofMonsieurGrussin (or Grossin) at 8 Place de la Ville, Pont-Audemer, in Normandy.
“It’s a intriguing human element to an important piece of history,” National Archives assistant director-general Louise Doyle told AFP.
“We’re not sure how it ended up in Australia, but it would be fascinating to know more. If people see this it would be interesting to have more context in relation to this record.” The letter was transferred to the archive’s Brisbane office from the former Queensland Post and Telegraph Museum in 2001, but there is no information about its origin.
It came to light recently as part of a joint project between the National Archives of Australia and the Archives Nationales in France. In the letter, which is full of fervour, the man assures his mother he is in good health.
“We don’t have meat every day and when we do get some it is not very much, but we can easily get by as things are and no one in our household is complaining,” he wrote. Mesnier added: “The desire to repulse the Prussians is right now the solitary concern of Paris. Any suffering can be borne rather than opening the gates of the capital to them.”
Hegoesontospeakof“somereal battles” around the city between November 29 and December 1 in which “our young soldiers have beaten the seasoned Prussian army”.
“We have taken their cannon and captured 1,000 prisoners – these days of good fortune have raised the morale of the fearful,” he said.
“We cannot succeed in all our attacks but I have the firm conviction, my good mother, that the ultimate success will be for our just cause.” — AFP