Leaving it all behind logo
SAfS logo
 
Unit 1 - The Morality of War

Private Matthew Ferrie, Private Alfred Young and Flying Officer Wilson were just three of the many men who died in action during WW1 and WW2.

While soldiers’ wills reflect their sense of duty in answering the call to arms, their letters home reveal more about their different responses to war and its justification.

 

Battalion Orderly Room, Royal Fusiliers, Arras, France, 29 April 1917
Imperial War Museum: Q 5274

     

Source 1a
Declaration of war, 1914

Source 2a
Letter home from the front, Oct 1914

Source 3a
Letter home from Private Alfred Young, France,
March 1915

Source 1b
Declaration of War, 1939

Source 2b
The will of Flying Officer David Wilson, 1944

Source 3b
Disillusionment with the war, 1944