The letters of 2nd Lt. Victor George Ursell 1913 -1917 and War Diary of the 8th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. With a Mathematics scholarship to Oxford in 1912 the hopes and aspirations of Victor’s parents and teachers are riding high, but his exuberance, vitality, sporting ability and his engagement to what the family refer to as his ‘Russian Princess’ Lena, are thrown into jeopardy by the unfolding horror of war. His fiancée has to return to Moscow and Victor enlists, commencing a journey that will take him to France, Salonika, Malta, England and back to France again. If any story illustrates the loss, both personal and national during the First World War it can be found in these letters.