A heartbroken Ayrshire mother whose two sons never returned from World War I kept every letter from them in leather-bound books as a memorial.
Now the notes and photos from Eric and Ronald Travis Townsend, from Troon, who died just days apart in 1917, are to go to auction.
The letters were written by the brothers to their mum Lucy Townsend who preserved their words lovingly along with photographs so her sons wouldn’t be forgotten.
They reveal how Eric jokingly asked his mother, “Is haggis postable?” to Palestine for Christmas and how Ronald, who had emigrated to Canada in 1913, was determined to return to Europe to fight for his country.
Eric, a captain in the 5th Highland Light Infantry, was only 22 when he was killed in action on November 8, 1917.
Ronald, of the Royal Flying Corps, was killed in action in France just 22 days later, aged 28.
The albums – Letters From Eric Travis Townsend and Reminiscences of Ronald Travis Townsend – will go under the hammer at Bonhams in London on September 15. They are expected to fetch between £600 and £800.
Luke Batterham, of Bonhams, said: “These books are incredibly moving as they are put together by a mother as memorials to her sons, who died in World War I.
“Theirs is a moving story of two young Scots who, when war came along, signed up almost immediately.
"They wrote home to their mother and were largely positive so as not to worry her.
“In Eric’s last letter, he writes from Palestine to say fighting has resumed but he’s ‘entirely out of it’ and enjoying time off bathing in the sea.
"It is likely news of his death in action will have reached home before his letter.
“Ronald had moved to Canada where he became an accountant and was assigned a desk job during the war but he was determined to fight and died just three weeks after his brother.
“He wrote that when his children asked what he did during the war, he didn’t want to look them in the eye and say he ‘signed cheques’."
In 1927, their mother erected a memorial plaque to her sons which remains at St Ninian’s Church in the town.
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