Love in the Time of War

This post is both sweet and sad--I doubt any reader will go through the whole thing without feeling any emotion. I certainly can't, I feel these photographs especially. The theme is, of course, love, specifically the kisses of farewell and welcome home.

All of these come from Australia, for no specific reason except that the curators of Australian online collections seem to be just as touched by these photographs as I am. Some are from the State Library of New South Wales, found here on the Flickr Commons, with their own site here . The others come from the Australian War Memorial collection-- their website, and their collection on the Flickr Commons.

I'm not going to say much, because these really speak for themselves.

The welcome home kiss of a wounded soldier, Sydney, Australia, 1919. Source.

World War Two farewell kiss, Australia Source

A WAAF officer kissing a policeman at Pacific Victory celebrations in Sydney Australia, 1945. Source.

Soldier's Farewell and Bobby the Cat, Second World War, Australia. Source

Soldier's goodbye and Bobby the Cat Part Two. Source

A soldier named Albert Donovan being welcomed home by his wife and family. Source

My very favourite. A kiss interrupts the march of troops through Melbourne, 1943. Source [or, to view very large, here... it's great to see the smiles on the faces of the other men]

I hope all the men saying goodbye made it home.