Dear Edward,
As your local Member of Parliament, I am more than delighted to respond to your concerns.
You tell me of the jubilation you and your brothers felt as you signed up to the Army together; your confession that you did so below the legal age (this will remain our little secret). Your mother sounds like a woman of truly loving devotion; I am sure she was weeping as much with pride as with sorrow when you parted.
I can understand why you feel so weary fighting at the Front for our King and our Country. The portrait you paint is so vivid that I can almost smell the stench of war: the mud, the dried sweat, the excrement, the tobacco, the quick lime. I sense that you still feel the loss of your brothers acutely. Their contributions will be remembered: that is my pledge.
Truly, I appreciate why, in the periods of nagging boredom you so eloquently describe, your mind has wandered to question why you are fighting. You fear that the sacrifice you have so bitterly experienced is for naught. I wish to assure you otherwise.
This war will ensure that Germany’s sinister quest to dominate other lands and peoples will finally come to an end. It will safeguard the future of our great British Empire. It will be this war that secures a lasting and just peace. It will undoubtedly prove to be the last great conflict Man will fight, resolving for good the great underlying problems and traumas in Europe that have led us to this moment. When the guns fall silent, a new era of economic prosperity beckons.
So yes, I understand your fears and concerns, but please put them to one side. It may seem remote now in your world of machine guns and barbed wire and shells and poison gas, but the 20th century will surely be known as the century of peace. If that fails to transpire – and it will not – then, and only then, would there be any cause to question the war, and the motives of those who sent so many men to muddy fields.
I believe strongly that the legacy of this war will be to demonstrate that trust in authority is justified, not misplaced, and that war really is the means to achieve peace.
Keep fighting, brave soldier, and all my thoughts for your mother; I hope they discover what ails her soon.
Sincerely yours,
Sir Henry
--------------------------------------------
Feeling inspired? Write your own letter to the unknown soldier and join the 10,000+ people who have already contributed including Stephen Fry, Lee Child and Malorie Blackman.
Post your letter on your own Wattpad account with the tag #UnknownSoldier, and then upload it to our online memorial at www.1418NOW.org.uk/letter/new