“Sunday is the Hardest Day to Bear”: Absence and Anxiety of Soldiers’ Mothers during the Great War

Abstract

ABSTRACTDuring times of war, the immense distance between Australia and the battlefront caused mothers of soldiers to feel a pervasive sense of helplessness. To endure a son’s absence, many mothers attempted to manage their emotional vulnerability and anxiety by keeping their hands busy, writing continual correspondence or sending comfort packages to the front. While historical literature regarding the experiences of Australian women during the First World War has been extensive, these studies have tended to focus on wives and war widows, usually depicting mothers through their sacrificial and caregiving roles. This article seeks to broaden the current literature relating to the experiences of the soldier’s mother during the First World War and investigate the ways in which they distracted themselves from the absence of their sons. To do this, this study uses an empirical historiographical approach to create a wider understanding of the impact that war had on the home front. In doing so, it becomes clear that, although mothers’ experiences of the war were all unique, their sacrifices and struggles united them.