A 100 year old Christmas ‘box’ has been donated to a museum for safe-keeping.
The gift, which contains a Christmas card and even some tobacco, was given to a Donegal soldier by Britain’s Princess Mary in 1914.
Now the family of Lieutenant Corporal Andrew Alexander Andrews from Dunfanaghy have donated their unique brass-boxed gift to the Donegal County Museum in Letterkenny.
The gift box, which survived two world wars, also contains a picture of Princess Mary.
Curator of Donegal County Museum Caroline Carr said the gift is a rare find.
“The fact that it is in such good condition and contains all the gifts including the card, the picture of Princess Mary and especially the tobacco, makes it very special.
“I don’t think there are to many of them in such complete condition about,” she said.
The gift box was one of thousands of boxes sent to soldiers as part of a ‘Sailors and Soldiers Christmas Fund.’
Princess Mary, the 17 year old daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, had wanted to send a gift to everyone wearing the King’s uniform serving overseas on Christmas Day, 1914.
More than £200,000 was raised by the public to send the gifts to more than 350,000 service people in time for Christmas Day.
Those who didn’t smoke and boys received a pencil and a packet of sweets instead while nurses were given bars of chocolate.
The brass box measures 13cms by 8cms and was made so it could fit in soldier’s pockets.
The Christmas card sent by Princess Mary contained the poignant message ‘Merry Christmas and a Victorious New Year.’
“Little did they know that they would be in store for them during the years that followed,” said curator Ms Carr.
Lieutenant Corporal Andrews received his gift but was seriously wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st, 1916.
He was not rescued until two days later until July 3rd when he managed to crawl towards the Allied lines.
