Art exhibition inspired by gay World War 2 lovers opens

An art exhibition inspired by the love letters exchanged between two gay soldiers during World War Two is set to open on Friday evening. Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher sent each other hundreds of messages during the war. Artist Megan Hayward has gathered love letters from various people around the county and transformed them into audio pieces for the exhibition at Oswestry's former yoga center.

“We just put a call out to hear stories from across the decades... someone came forward with love letters that their grandmother had received,” explained Hayward. “They were also from around the 1940s, involving Park Hall Camp and various men who had danced with this person’s grandmother. They're so similar to the letters written by Gordon and Gilbert. It truly exemplifies how love is love, even in the 1940s.”

As ‘BBC’ writes, as the artist in residence for the arts program ART-efact Oswestry, Ms. Hayward has created a living room setting where visitors can sit down and listen to audio versions of the letters through an old rotary phone. She remarked, “Nowadays, everything's so instant, and if you don’t get a reply within an hour, you wonder: 'Have I done something wrong?' I can't imagine what it was like then, waiting weeks for a letter and hoping you're still loved. We also received some more modern stories, including how people’s parents met.”

Image Credit: Canva

The display will be open on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through September 28 and will feature works from three other artists in residence. In 1939, Gilbert Bradley was stationed at Park Hall Camp in Oswestry. He was in love with Gordon Bowsher, who was stationed in various locations across the country during a time when homosexual activity was subject to court-martial. The letters came to light after Mr. Bradley’s death in 2008 when a house clearance company sold them to a dealer specialising in military mail. These messages are now on display at Oswestry Town Museum.

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