The shape of a bullet lends itself to the construction of writing implements. As a result, when they came to decide what to include in the box to be given to all troops for Christmas 1914 a specially commissioned bullet pencil, with Princess Mary’s monogram on the casing and a sterling silver bullet head, seemed a very fitting addition. Clearly they had been made by soldiers before, at least as far back as the Boer War, but the Princess Mary Box example made the bullet pencil famous and other fund-raising organisations subsequently made and sold their own versions throughout the war.
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