Book tells story of Borders aristocrat killed First World War

A new biography tells the story of a young Borders aristocrat killed during the First World War.
First World War hero Esmond Elliot.First World War hero Esmond Elliot.
First World War hero Esmond Elliot.

Esmond Elliot, the younger son of the fourth earl of Minto, Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, was killed aged just 22 while commanding his company of Scots Guards at the beginning of the Passchendaele offensive in 1917.

A century on, Esmond: The Lost Idol, 1895-1917, has been co-written by the third Baron Astor of Hever, the maternal grandson of First World War field marshal Douglas Haig, and researcher Alexandra Campbell.

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Previously-unpublished letters, diaries and photographs as well as his mother Mary Minto’s remarkable tribute to him form the basis of the biography.

Lord Astor said: “My inspiration for writing the book came from my grandmother Violet Astor, the youngest of Esmond’s three elder sisters and the one closest to him.

“In one sense, my great-uncle was an everyman, representative of a generation winnowed on the battlefields of Europe.”

Published by Helion and Company, the book is out now, priced £25.

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