Private Papers of 2nd Lieutenant E R Heaton

Ts/ms transcriptions of 9 letters, with 2 ms originals (total 18pp), written home during his service as a subaltern initially with the 14th Battalion Middlesex Regiment before joining the 16th Battalion Middlesex Regiment (86th Brigade, 29th Division) on the Western Front, February - June 1916, describing his arrival in France and difficulties with the language, his billets, trench conditions and his admiration for the resilience of his fellow soldiers, with a 'last letter' written to his family shortly before his death in action on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916); together with ms/ts correspondence (23pp) relating to his death, July 1916 - June 1917, including letters of official notification and condolence, a photograph of him in uniform, cyclostyled papers concerning trench construction, an ms notebook containing 'Field Engineering Notes', and a few related press cuttings. Also held with the collection are ms letters written by his two brothers: Captain A D Heaton (30pp) serving with the 2/8th Battalion London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) (174th Brigade, 58th Division) in the United Kingdom and France, February 1916 - May 1917, and the 2/6th Jat Light Infantry in Mesopotamia, February - November 1920, describing the state of German prisoners, an improvised bath in France, the Mesopotamian climate, and a voyage up the Tigris, stopping to examine the remains of wartime trenches and sites such as Kut, with four portrait photographs of him in uniform and ten photographs of Mesopotamia; and the Reverend W J Heaton (24pp) serving at the 63rd General Hospital in Salonika, July 1918, describing a visit to Ostrovo, and then with the British Military Mission to South Russia, March - June 1920, referring to refugees in the Crimea, with a portrait photograph and a few related papers.

Ts/ms transcriptions of 9 letters, with 2 ms originals (total 18pp), written home during his service as a subaltern initially with the 14th Battalion Middlesex Regiment before joining the 16th Battalion Middlesex Regiment (86th Brigade, 29th Division) on the Western Front, February - June 1916, describing his arrival in France and difficulties with the language, his billets, trench conditions and his admiration for the resilience of his fellow soldiers, with a 'last letter' written to his family shortly before his death in action on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916); together with ms/ts correspondence (23pp) relating to his death, July 1916 - June 1917, including letters of official notification and condolence, a photograph of him in uniform, cyclostyled papers concerning trench construction, an ms notebook containing 'Field Engineering Notes', and a few related press cuttings. Also held with the collection are ms letters written by his two brothers: Captain A D Heaton (30pp) serving with the 2/8th Battalion London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) (174th Brigade, 58th Division) in the United Kingdom and France, February 1916 - May 1917, and the 2/6th Jat Light Infantry in Mesopotamia, February - November 1920, describing the state of German prisoners, an improvised bath in France, the Mesopotamian climate, and a voyage up the Tigris, stopping to examine the remains of wartime trenches and sites such as Kut, with four portrait photographs of him in uniform and ten photographs of Mesopotamia; and the Reverend W J Heaton (24pp) serving at the 63rd General Hospital in Salonika, July 1918, describing a visit to Ostrovo, and then with the British Military Mission to South Russia, March - June 1920, referring to refugees in the Crimea, with a portrait photograph and a few related papers.

Cataloguer APR

Catalogue date 2003-05-02