From 1914 to 1918, Flanders Fields was a major battle theatre on the Western Front during the First World War. A million soldiers from more than 50 different countries were wounded, missing or killed in action here. Entire cities and villages were destroyed, their population scattered across Europe and beyond.

The horror of the war and its aftermath altered the world for decades, and poets responded to the brutalities and losses in new ways. The First World War was “one of the seminal moments of the twentieth century in which literate soldiers, plunged into inhuman conditions, reacted to their surroundings in poems”, writes English lecturer Dr Stuart Lee on Oxford University’s First World War Poetry Digital Archive.

This episode highlights just three poems but there are so many more out there for you to discover. I hope this encourages you to find some more.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

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The BIG Bristol to London Stroll

If you wish to donate and sponsor our endeavours to raise money for the Suicide Prevention Bristol charity, then go to our dedicated Justgiving page. This walk and the money raised is dedicated to Sara, who sadly passed away in March this year. Remember, if you feel low, there's always someone you can talk to and you are more important than you probably know.

Thanks in advance for your support. 

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SOURCES

The Great War 1914-1918

Poetry Foundation

In Flanders Fields Museum

The Isaac Rosenberg Collection

Guelph Museums

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

1914 & Other Poems by Rupert Brooke, Sidgwick & Jackson

The Spectator Rupert Brooke and Skyros. By Stanley Casson. 6 Aug 1921 -

Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2021