Skip to content

'Your Loving Son' recounts letters to a wartime mother

'The effects of war are permanent and disfigure all of us for generations,' writer says. 'Remembrance is about reminding us of this perennial tragedy'

A week from now we will be at cenotaphs around the world remembering the senseless slaughter and deaths of young men who gave their lives for their countries, for their nations and for their ideals.

I am reading my Scottish granddad's letters home to his mother and find my eyes tearing up.

I have never gone to war, nor do I hope this generation will ever face these horrors. My grandfather was a 24-year-old lieutenant in the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers fighting at the Somme; knee deep in water and mud.

He writes home for oatcakes, warm socks and cheese. One of the photographs shows his letter to his mother from 19/6/17.

That my two grandfathers came from opposite sides of the war, is a story for another day, suffice to say that there was terrible suffering and death.

As borders and allegiances change with awful regularity,  we are ever reminded that death and destruction follow and it is always young men and women who are sacrificed.

The effects of war are permanent and disfigure all of us for  generations. Remembrance is about reminding us of this perennial tragedy.

Let us not forget. We Will Remember Them.

René Hackstetter, November 5, 2022.