What I have seen of our own men, and others, who have come back from the front, either disabled or on leave, has impressed me deeply. The seriousness, the self-sacrifice, the courage, and above all the cheerfulness drawn not from the surface but from deeper spirits, has reconciled me to much loss and too much sorrow; though every letter that I have had to write to parents when boys have fallen costs more more in effort and in pain.

29 October 1916, Letter to Dr. John Williams by his son, Dr. David Williams [University Archive, D733/1/4-5]