For Love and Courage: Letters Home from the Western Front 1914-1917

Lt Colonel E.W. Hermon died in a hail of bullets on the 9th April 1917, the first day of the Battle of Arras, leading his men of the 24th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers into the attack. Like hundreds of thousands of others in the Great War, he gave his life for his country. He was shot through the heart, one bullet slicing through the papers in his top pocket, including the four-leaf clover his wife had given him for good luck. His final words to his Adjutant were "Go on!" before he sank to his knees and died almost instantaneously. Carried from the battlefield by his faithful soldier servant, Buxton, he now lies buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Roclincourt, three miles from Arras. This could have been the end of the story but he left a testament of his life and ideals in a unique and hitherto unknown and unpublished collection of 700 long and detailed letters he wrote to his darling wife and his children, "the Chugs." Now, nearly a century after his death, he speaks to us of a less cynical past, where selflessness, honor, duty, and courage were admired above all else. His own courage was officially recognized as he was mentioned in despatches three times and posthumously awarded the D.S.O. The letters have been transcribed and edited by Hermon's granddaughter Anne Nason with the guidance and historical advice of distinguished historian and writer James Holland. These letters are unique in their candor and context since Hermon was Battalion Commander and thus his letters were not censored. A moving and unique legacy of one soldier’s love and courage, this is a fascinating insight into life on the frontline during World War I.