Corporal Heber Slatter lost his life as the First World War was drawing to a close.

He died in the spring of 1918 after being wounded in a fierce battle as the Germans made a final desperate effort to win the war.

Corporal Slatter – known as HP – was one of 10 Oxford City footballers on active service who, as we reported (Memory Lane, January 19), did not return.

He served as a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery and in that final battle, his 156 Heavy battery came under heavy fire from German guns as well as being drenched in gas.

Despite hundreds of rounds being fired in their direction, there was little damage and only one man was wounded. That man was Corporal Slatter, and he died from his injuries four days later on May 7, six months before the war ended. He is buried at the Couin New British cemetery in France.

Earlier, in a letter home, he had written: “We have been so busy moving up and down that I scarcely find time to write. Up to the present, I have been keeping quite fit, but we have had some very big bombardments.

“Everything looks very bright from all sides and I shall be pleased to see the finish. I have had a letter from my father, he is getting on well. I am writing this sitting on the ground with the paper across my knees.”

It appears that Corporal Slatter, a left half, played football for two clubs – Oxford City and Reading – in the same seasons.

He played 72 matches for Oxford City between 1910 and 1914, scoring seven goals.

He played for Reading in the latter part of the 1910-11 season, helping them win the Southern League Second Division championship, and continued for the next four seasons.

He was described as stocky, 5ft 5in tall and just 9st 11lbs, but with a reputation for being tough in the tackle. He was also said to be “one of the best half backs Reading ever produced”.

To the fans, he was known as ‘Little Eva’, though no-one could explain why. Slatter, who worked as a rate collector for Reading council, joined the Army in November 1915 and was posted to France in 1916.

With censorship increasing and the death toll rising, his death merited just two column inches in the Reading Observer under the headline, ‘Footballer Killed’.

His wife fought for 10 months to retrieve his personal effects from the Army, including photographs, English, French and German coins and a pack of playing cards.

To help the family, a benefit game was played at Elm Park, raising £196 9s 4d.