Along the road of remembrance

Tony Booth, a teacher at Merchant Taylors' School, has taken school groups to World War One battlefields in France, since 1991.

And for the past three years he has also taken groups of friends from Croxley Green and Rickmansworth to the Somme and Ypres.

His latest visit to Ypres was last month, when he took a group of nine friends to the battlefields.

Tony said: "I thought it would be a good idea to find out something about local men who fought and died in World War One.

"Each time we have visited the battlefields, we have gone to find the grave of a Croxley Green man. My starting point is always the war memorial in Croxley Green. It is then possible to find out more about the names on the memorial through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

"This year, I researched a pair of names two men with the same surname (Newall) and I discovered they were brothers who lived at Redheath in Croxley Green, which is now York House School."

To prepare for his latest trip to Ypres, Tony did some research into the Newall family history. In this, he was helped by Patrick Moore, former headmaster of York House. Together, they discovered that the eldest brother, Leslie, had died in France in 1915, aged 23, and the youngest brother, Nigel, died in 1917, near Ypres, aged 22.

Further research revealed the existence of a letter, discovered in north Wales in 2001, which was written to Nigel's mother by a fellow officer in the Army, telling her of her son's death. The letter, dated October 14, 1917, is reproduced below. It explained the circumstances of Nigel's death, the bravery he had shown on the battlefield, and his popularity with his men.

Tony also found out there is a memorial plaque to the Newall brothers in All Saints Church, Croxley Green, placed there by their grieving parents. Nigel's body was never found, but his name is recorded on the memorial to the missing at Tyne Cot Cemetery near Passchendaele. When the group visited Tyne Cot, they placed a poppy near Nigel's name on the memorial.

Just over two years before they received the letter from the front, the Newalls had heard news of the death of Nigel's oldest brother Leslie. He died on September 2, 1915, aged 23, and is buried at Rue-David Military Cemetery. The war memorial outside Watford Town Hall used to be known locally as the Newall Brothers Monument.

The second of the three Newall brothers, Keith, was in the Royal Navy and survived the war. He had two children.

Sadly, his son, Leslie, died in active service in World War Two. His daughter, Pamela, married Richard Sharples in 1946. Richard became Governor of Bermuda, and was assassinated there in 1973. Pamela was subsequently made Baroness Sharples, and is now a Conservative Life Peer.

"The story of the Newall family illustrates why I am more interested in the human side of World War One than in the military or technological side of it," Tony said.

"I am interested in the lives of the men who fought there and the huge contrast between the optimism with which most of them volunteered and the dreadful conditions and horrors they found in places like Ypres and the Somme."

More than a million British soldiers were wounded around Ypres in World War One, and 5,000 British troops died there each month, which is why it is such a poignant area for British visitors.

Irene Dubuis, a member of the party which went to Ypres, said: "Tony very skilfully treads a delicate balance between keeping the trip fun for us, as a group of friends, and reminding us of the very serious reasons why we are there."

One of the highlights of the trip for the group was the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. This has taken place here every day at the same time since 1927, apart from during World War Two.

Another memory of their battlefield tour for the Three Rivers residents was a visit to Artillery Wood Cemetery, where two World War One poets are buried Irishman, Francis Ledwidge and Welshman, Ellis Evans. Both men died on the same day.

Ellis Evans, whose bardic name was Hedd Wyn, won the Welsh National Eisteddfod, which was awarded posthumously, six weeks after his death.

A Welsh language film made in 1992, which detailed events in Hedd Wyn's life, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

At the grave, Tony told the group a little of the history of Hedd Wyn and his work. Then, Eilian Thomas, who is originally from Wales but now lives in Rickmansworth, read one of Ellis Evans' poems to the group in Welsh.

Tony will return to France and Belgium next year.

"These battlefield sites are so vast and full of interest that there is still so much more left for us to discover," he said.

The letter to Mrs Newall

I cannot tell you how dreadfully sorry I am to have to tell you that Nigel was killed instantaneously on Friday morning at 5 minutes past 6.

All my officers had been wounded, and he was sent to me to help me as I was in a rather bad unpleasant place with no officers.

The Germans were being heavily shelled and he and I were watching from our shell hole to see if the Germans were going to retire, and we would have shot them and followed them, and as Nigel got up to shoot at some of the enemy he was hit by a bullet in the middle of his forehead.

I cannot tell you how dreadfully sorry I am for you.

He was such a splendid person and was simply worshipped by his men and loved by all of us, he will be most terribly missed.

It was a great blow to both of us that he did not come to my company, but all the same we managed to see a lot of each other.

I think he looked on me as his best friend, as we were the only men of the old lot left out here. It is terribly sad, I cannot get over it.

We were so pleased to be together those few hours, and he behaved so well, especially as I was dead tired, and he worked very hard for me to try and give me a rest and I feel his death very deeply indeed.

The post is just going, so I must hurry up with what I have to tell you.

He was buried yesterday a hundred yards from where he fell. After he was killed I went through his pockets to send you back anything. As I was doing so a shell burst and knocked me and my orderly over and buried us, so I fear some of the few private personal effects that he had with him are lost.

I know there was a small pig that he loved, but it was buried, also his watch. The orderly was taken straight to hospital, I shall go to see him today and find if he saved anything.

The only things I have were his identity disc and his cigarette case, which if you will allow me to, I am very anxious to keep till the end of the war, and if I get killed I will see it is returned to you.

I fear this letter is very disjointed, but I've only just come out of the line. We have had the hardest time I have ever had and for once I feel rather shaken and most terribly sad.

With my love and my very deepest sympathies.

Yours very sincerely,.

Percy Baltye.

PS I particularly want a photograph of Nigel if you would be kind enough to send me one. I will write again tomorrow. Just before he was killed, we were talking about home and other things, and his last words to me about one minute before he was killed were: "Thank God, Percy, we are out here, and not winning the war in England."