Last letters written before the end
These are the last letters soldiers wrote, knowing they might not survive. Many were found in uniform pockets, clutched in hands, or left behind in barracks. They are the final words of men and women who loved and were loved.
Written from a captured German dugout on the heights of Vimy Ridge on the morning after the victory. Tommy's letter is a love letter to his wife and a declaration of a nation's coming of age.
Written the night before loading onto transports for D-Day, this letter was found in Bobby's barracks bag after he was killed when his C-47 was hit by flak over Utah Beach.
Second Lieutenant Haruo Araki married his childhood sweetheart at 11 PM and had four hours with her before flying his final mission. He was 21 years old.
A French soldier's letter to his sweetheart, written before the Second Battle of Ypres. Jean-Luc was a poet before the war.
A kamikaze pilot's final letter to his young wife, written the day before his mission. The letter is composed in careful calligraphy and includes a death poem.
Frederick Key wrote 42 letters and 15 postcards to his beloved Zen Hall. This was his last — written on Valentine's Day 1916. He died on the first day of the Somme. She wrote in her diary: 'Letter came saying my darling killed... went to Lichfield.'
Written on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, this letter was found in William's tunic pocket after he fell on the first day of battle.
Written at dawn on Battle of Britain Day — the decisive air battle over England. Jimmy was shot down hours later. The letter was found in his locker at RAF Middle Wallop.
Lieutenant Colin Simper had never held his baby son Douglas when he wrote this letter from the jungles of Borneo. He was killed eight days later, trying to save a wounded mate.
Italian soldier Marco Nardi's wife gave birth to their son while he was at the front. He received a photograph but never held the baby. This letter was found on his body after the Austro-German breakthrough at Caporetto.
A Belgian soldier writes to his wife from the Yser River, describing the desperate flooding of the land to stop the German advance. 'We are drowning our country to save it.' He died three days later.
Sergeant Jan Novák hadn't seen his wife Hana or Prague since 1939. He wrote this letter from the siege lines of Dunkirk, fighting for a country he feared he might never see again.
Thomas married his childhood sweetheart Emily at 8 AM on July 1, 1916. By noon he was on the front. By 4 PM he was dead. His letter was found in his breast pocket, still smelling of her perfume from the ceremony.
A French soldier of Jewish faith from Alsace writes to his wife on the morning of the Second Battle of Artois, blending French and Hebrew in his final farewell.
Captain Miguel Santos of the Filipino Scouts wrote to his wife Maria on the eve of Bataan's fall. He survived the Death March but died in a POW camp. The letter was carried by a fellow prisoner and delivered to Maria in 1945.
Captain Nikos Stavros of the Greek army wrote to his wife Eleni from the frozen Pindus Mountains, where Greek forces were pushing Mussolini's invasion back into Albania. He was killed a month later.
On Christmas Eve 1944, surrounded by Germans in the frozen foxholes of Bastogne, Private First Class Robert Giordano wrote to his wife Rose in Brooklyn. He was killed the next day. The letter was found frozen in his hand.
Bostonian James O'Sullivan fell in love with a French girl while training. He wrote proposing marriage. She received his letter the same day his commanding officer's letter arrived — he had died at the Argonne. She kept both in a locket for 70 years.
A French farmer conscripted in August 1914 writes to his wife of two months on the eve of the First Battle of the Marne. He died the next day.
Captain Harry Cromie was too shy to propose when he saw Vera on leave. He wrote her a letter on the eve of battle: 'By this you will know that I have been killed. I meant to ask you to be engaged to me but when I was on leave I was too frightened to say anything — I loved you very very much.' He was killed 13 days later.
Norwegian ski trooper Erik Solberg wrote to his wife Ingrid from a mountain cabin during the Battle of Narvik. His letter was found in the pocket of his white camouflage jacket, stained with snow and blood.
Squadron Leader Tadeusz Kowalski of 303 Squadron RAF wrote this letter on the eve of the decisive Battle of Britain engagement. He fought for England but dreamed of Poland — and the wife and daughter he left behind in Warsaw.
A classics professor from Heidelberg — a man who taught Homer and Goethe — volunteers for war and writes to his wife from Flanders. He was killed at Langemarck, one of the 'Kindermord' — the Massacre of the Innocents.
A Russian Imperial Army officer writes to his wife during the Brusilov Offensive, describing the snow on the Carpathians and the cherry blossoms of their orchard. He was killed by shellfire four days later.
A Highland piper writes to his wife on the eve of the Battle of Loos. The next morning, he went over the top playing 'The Flowers of the Forest.' He was killed within minutes.
Written during the Great Retreat across Albania, this frozen letter was found in Zoran's hand after he succumbed to hypothermia and starvation in the Albanian mountains.
A submarine communications officer writes to his wife about their newborn son — whom he has never seen. His submarine was sunk 25 days later. All hands lost.