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the pathogens carried by the millions of birds as, from time immemorial, these headed down one of Europe’s principal migration routes via the mouth of the Somme,” Professor Oxford wrote. At the vast Etaples Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, the long lines of white marble headstones today pay testament to the tragedy that afflicted so many British servicemen.
It is the largest in France, where more than 11,000 men have been laid to rest. Scores of those deaths were due to flu. Today Nigel, of Devizes, Wilts, treasures the medals, the only evidence of what his ancestor achieved.
Herbert’s wife Jane received the British War Medal and Victory Medal conferred posthumously on her husband by the War Office.
Nigel also still has the perfectly preserved letter signed by King George V, with a Buckingham Palace letterhead, in which the monarch expressed gratitude for “a brave life given for others in the Great War”.
Most poignant of all, however, is a postcard in the name of Herbert’s daughter Joan, Nigel’s mother, who was then just three years old.
“Dear Daddy,” it reads. “This is first to wish you many happy returns of the day. Please come home to see me soon for I am growing so high.”
The family had cause for optimism, but they knew nothing of the flu outbreak that was stalking the wards. On either side of Herbert’s final resting place are the graves of 11 men who all died within the same week in 1918.
One of the first to fall victim to flu was Captain John Bawtree Hawkins, of Wivenhoe, Essex, who died in August 1916, aged 47. He had been based at the Infantry Division Base Depot in Etaples since arriving in France a year earlier.
Private Ernest Ridley, 28, of Manchester, and driver Frederick Adams, 21, of Staffordshire, died of flu on the day of the Armistice, November 11. Another war hero lost to flu was Able Seaman Albert Edward McKenzie, 19, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism during the Zeebrugge Raid.
Allied leaders were so worried by the flu outbreak they feared they would not have enough fit troops to fight the war.
However wartime censorship meant newspapers were not allowed to write about the spread of the virus.
Scores of servicemen, as well doctors and nurses at Etaples were struck down.
One of the reasons the outbreak became known as the Spanish flu is that Spain, a neutral country, was free to report the effects.
The condition eventually infected more than 500 million, and killed up to 5% of the world’s total population, in places as far apart as Japan, Ethiopia, Ghana and Brazil. Though little was ever LOST HERO Mirror’s Tom visits Herbert’s grave in Etaples said about how many soldiers had died from flu after the Germans surrendered in November 1918.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said: “In many ways, Spanish Flu is the forgotten fight of the First World War and yet it was ultimately responsible for more deaths than the war itself.
“Perhaps the only memorial that recognises and commemorates those affected by its deadly impact is in the records and cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
“Unlike some of the distinctions at the time – which implied you were ‘letting the side down’ if you fell ill due to the disease – the commission ensures all those who died, no matter how or where they died, will be remembered.”
Certainly Herbert’s family know his sacrifice was just as noble as those who died at the Somme or Passchendaele.