With the first Carmarthen Antiques and Flea Market of the year taking place on Sunday, March 11, the organisers are looking forward to another busy year of events at the town’s Showground.

Along with tackling final preparations for the first of nine fairs in 2018, Robert and Carol Pugh are also searching for the ‘Thomas’ family connected to a collection of First World War postcards. The cards were recently discovered by the pair and are to be offered for sale at the Flea Market.

However, Robert and Carol would much prefer to find the descendants of the family behind the postcards and to gift the collection to them.

Robert explained: “The postcards are a wonderful piece of social history and extremely collectable. I’m sure there will be plenty of people who’ll want to snap them up at the Flea, but I can’t help feeling they’re also a personal record of what must have been a difficult time for this family. It would be lovely to be able to give them back.”

Some of the postcards were sent from France, while others were posted from Egypt, but all are addressed to 32 Spilman Street in Carmarthen and date from 1916, a year synonymous with some of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Robert went on to say: “I’m particularly fond of the postcards sent from Egypt. They show views of the Nile and the Pyramids as well as Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal. I know from my research that the South Wales Borderers were recuperated here following action in Gallipoli. The other possibility is the writer was part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, formed after seeing action in Palestine in 1914-15.”

The postcards from Egypt are all signed off ‘Myrddin’ and addressed to either Miss S. A. Thomas or Miss Katie Thomas. One or two of the postcards are in Welsh and from these we know that Katie is Myrddin’s sister as he refers to her as ‘Fy annwyl chwaer” - my dear sister.

The postcards from France are signed off Jack and it’s implied that he is another brother.

During the First World War, letter writing was the main form of communication between soldiers and their loved ones. The British Army Postal Service delivered around two billion letters during the war and receiving letters from family and friends was vital to morale, keeping men and women connected to the homes they had left behind.

The postcards are an excellent example of the variety of ‘treasures’ that are sold at the Carmarthen Antiques and Flea Market, the biggest event of its kind in South Wales. With up to 200 stands, inside and out on Carmarthen Showground, not only will you find interesting ceramics, there are also vintage clothes and jewellery, Welsh country furniture, highly collectable children’s toys, unusual decorative pieces and much more.

The Carmarthen Antiques and Flea Market, runs between 10 am and 4 pm on Sunday, March 11. Admission is £4.50 for adults, with accompanied children admitted free of charge. Well behaved dogs kept on a lead are welcome.