From a man of letters:
Thinking of your great sorrow over the loss of that splendid boy of yours, there came to my mind that passage in Macbeth where Ross tells old Siward:
"Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt;
He only lived but till he was a man;
The which no sooner had his prowess confirmed
In the unshrinking station where he fought,
But like a man he died.
Siward: Had he his hurts before?
Ross: Ay, on the front.
Siward: Why, then, God's soldier be he!"
From the editor of a London daily newspaper:
It is infinitely tragic to hear day by day of this waste of the life of brilliant young men who were the hope of the future. And yet we must not say that it is waste. If we say that, then there is no mitigation of the sorrow. The price is appalling, but we must believe that it is being paid for a treasure the world cannot live without; and if that treasure is won, your sorrow will at least be assuaged by the thought that it is not in vain, and that what you have lost the world has gained.
From a friend and colleague on the Daily Chronicle:
My wife idolised Paul for his lovableness and nobility. The vision we had of him in his splendid youth has been made unforgettable by his glorious sacrifice.