Last Train

This chapter describes Haggard’s death; on 25th February 1943 he was found dying from a gunshot wound in the corridor of an Army train travelling overnight from Jerusalem. The manuscript of an unfinished poem was found on his body. He was buried at the Heliopolis Military Cemetery and the army assembled a Court of Enquiry to investigate his death, concluding that he had committed suicide. The chapter analyses the unfinished poem and explores possible reasons for Haggard’s suicide, including an affair with an unnamed married woman in Jerusalem. It also looks at other theories and rumours about his death, such as his murder by a German agent or even by discontented members of British intelligence.