LAST MESSAGE TO HOME

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15193, 13 April 1917, Page 7

LAST MESSAGE TO HOME

DYING LAD'S NOTE WRITTEN ON BATTLEFIELD. "MY THOUGHTS ARE NOW FOR YOU ALL." His la.st message home as he lay wounded on the battlefield: An intensely human document, written by a dying soldier on the battlefield of France, was that written by the late Private Thomas Heaton, of t<he Liverpool Regiment, a clerk employed in the advertising department of Messrs. Hnlton and Co., of Manchester and London. His parents rfcside at 140 Lower Brougbton Road, Lower Bronghton, Manchester. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the Liverpool Regiment. Last weei, as Private Moore«, of the Ist Newfoundland Regiment, was searching t-he battlefield he found the dead body of Private Heaton, and ranging from the pocket was a note, evidently hurriedly written as he lay wounded. This letter, which is authenticated by Lieutenant Nunns, a Huddersfield man now with "the Newfoundland Regiment, and Private Moores, of the Newfoundlands, reads:— "My dear Mother, Father, Misters and Brothers, —The good God has willed it so that my existence in this life, like many another, should be ended suddenly, unexpectedly, in the time when all is young and life offers unlimited means of enjoyment, and I want this last message to you to reach you, to show you that it does not find me unready to make the great sacrifice.

IN THE GREAT BEPOND. "My last thoughts are for yon all, well knowing that the decree will greatly upset you, but remember —ond I hope you will draw some consolation from it—that I am not- the only one, nor you the only parents, who have been called upon to make the great sacrifice. This, then, is what I want you to do —to bear the loss as bravely quietly and resignedly as you possibly can. I myself will have the far easier task, and you the more difficult, but it is the will of Him above, and He knows best. You will remember the good old hymn, 'God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform.' "And please, for vour own sakes, try not to rail at His decision for us, as we are not the only ones to suffer. Perhaps God, in His goodness, although He ha* denied the pleasure of meeting again on this earth, may in His unbounding mercy, grant us the greater pleasure of reunion in fie great beyond. With the srreatest affection for you all, I leave you.—Your loving son and brother, Thomas.