Letter · 4 May 1916 · Flanders Fields, Belgium
Trained for brutality
Harry Norton was killed in action on 15 September 1916, at Flanders. His family were not informed of his death for 5-6 weeks, and continued to write to him. Their letters were returned marked with 'deceased'. Harry wrote to his wife everyday - his letters are very descriptive and personal.
Extracts from this letter
"The work is very interesting & awful, in fact hellish. But I can stand it & my nerves are good. They need to be, to carry a man through"
"I can eat enormous meals & sleep on stones, but all the same this life robs a man of all refinement, and I am afraid when I come home to you Dear, you will find I am a brute of a boy, & very rough. We are being trained for brutality night & day, and no wonder when we see the things the enemy do. And it will take us a long time to get back to normal after we get home again. So you will have to break me in again."
