author
Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones
1896–1917
A young British officer whose letters from the First World War turn private correspondence into a moving portrait of courage, intelligence, and youth cut short. His only widely known book preserves the voice of a gifted schoolboy-soldier who died in action at just 21.
1 Audiobook
War Letters of a Public-School Boy
by Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones
About the author
Born in London on May 18, 1896, Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones was educated at Dulwich College, where he stood out both academically and in sport. He became head of the Modern Side, captained football, and won election to Balliol College, Oxford.
Instead of going on to university, he entered military service during the First World War. He served first in the Army Service Corps and later as a lieutenant in the Tank Corps. On July 31, 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele near Ypres, he was killed by a sniper's bullet.
Jones is remembered for War Letters of a Public-School Boy, a posthumous collection of his correspondence with a memoir. The book offers a vivid, personal view of wartime life and of a young man whose ideals, humor, and sense of duty remained striking even in the middle of war.