Allenby had departed to command in the Middle East by the time his only son Michael was killed, and the grief nearly broke even this iron man. The dead of close friends and relatives sent rings of sorrow rippling into higher headquarters.
’Poor Sandy Wingate was killed yesterday fighting his trench-mortar batter at one of the most dangerous parts of the line,’ lamented Charteris from GHQ on 19 October 1915.
He and I were friends from the age of 10 onwards… He was doing well. It is the best of the nation who are called to die. He was one of the best.. Only one name on a list of the killed – but a name I have had in my mind from my earliest youth – the name of a dear friend of my whole life.
A little extra heart-break:
From Wikipedia:
Many of Allenby's officers believed that he was incapable of any emotion except rage, but he was a loving father and husband who was intensely concerned about his only child, Michael, who was serving as a subaltern on the front. Before Allenby went to bed every night, Allenby would enter the office of the officer who took the daily casualty returns, ask "Have you any news of my little boy today?" and after the officer replied "No news sir", Allenby would then go to bed a reassured man.
Source:
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, GCB, GCMG, GCVO
The death of one is a tragedy. The death of millions is just a statistic.