Gay WWII soldiers’ love letters inspire new exhibition: ‘Love never changes’

Letters written to each other by two gay WWII soldiers have inspired a new exhibition that proves “love never changes” through the ages.

Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher’s love letters were written during the devastating 1939-45 conflict, when same-sex activity was still illegal in the UK. On display at Oswestry Town Museum, in Shropshire, the missives were not discovered until after Bradley’s death in 2008.

“My darling, I lie awake all night waiting for the postman in the early morning, and when he does not bring anything from you I just exist, a mass of nerves,” Bowsher wrote in one letter.

Inspired by the letters, artist Megan Hayward and poet Emmy Clarke collected “local love stories from across the decades”, and turned them into an exhibition for the arts programme ART-efact Oswestry.

“We were both given the opportunity to see the letters in person,” Hayward told PinkNews. “I was blown away by the writing, I think these days it’s easy to forget how instant our communication is and [how] quickly love moves, but the letters were a reminder of what it must be like to be in love with someone you can’t speak to every day.

“They’re the most beautiful declarations of love, of hope for what their lives might be like together one day, and just remarkable that behind the privacy of pen and paper, they were able to express themselves so freely.”

The exhibition features framed poems by Clarke, alongside Hayward’s audio piece, which invites visitors to “take a seat in the cosy armchair and pick up the phone if they wish to hear local love stories from across the decades”.

Hayward went on to say: “My piece was inspired by love through the ages, sharing snippets of local love stories across the spectrum of sexuality, to show that love never changes, no matter the form of communication or who it’s between.

“The Gilbert and Gordon letters actually weave between modern stories, alongside another set of letters found by someone’s grandson, and together they prove how love is love. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I can’t help but smile when I hear a young lesbian couple’s love story, and the relatable realisation of why one feels intimidated.

“The discovery of these letters and their comforting impact on the local LGTBQ+ community is really something. It’s easy to feel alone in a rural town, cut off from the big cities, but knowing these letters came and went through the town all those years ago is a beautiful reminder of how far society has come.”  

Hayward and Clarke’s work is on display at ART-efact Oswestry Exhibition on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays until 28 September, and will feature work from two other artists in residence.

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