Dedicated historian Sian Price spent three years travelling the world and reading through 30,000 heart-rending letters to compile the touching collection.

Heartfelt farewell: Second Lieutenant Eric Heaton, from East Sussex, wrote to his parent from the Battle of the Somme:

If I fall in battle then I have no regrets save for my loved ones I leave behind

Second Lieutenant Eric Heaton, age 20. Died: The Somme, 1916.

From his dugout, he wrote to his parents: ‘My darling Mother and Father, I am writing this on the eve of my first action.

‘Tomorrow we go to the attack in the greatest battle the British army has ever fought.

‘I cannot quite express my feelings on this night and I cannot tell if it is God’s will that I should come through – but if I fall in battle then I have no regrets save for my loved ones I leave behind.

‘It is a great cause and I came out willing to serve my King and Country

‘My greatest concern is that I have the courage and determination necessary to lead my platoon well.’

 

Source: dailymail.co.uk