The soldier poets of the First World War have had an enormous influence on succeeding generations, whose first awareness of the war often came from reading the poems and recollections of the men, mostly young, who fought in that war.

In the early days we have the euphoric response of Rupert Brook to the challenge of war; in 1915 Julian Grenfell’s ‘Into Battle’ is reflective but not bitter. There is a poignancy rather that anger in many of them; an acceptance of their fate shocking and surprising to us today. But it is of course the evocations of the horrors and suffering that have had the most impact.

In expressing the horrors of the Great War, the War Poets discarded the old notions of glory and heroism. Instead they spoke directly from experience to explain the war to those at home. The savage and bitter poetry of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen has epitomized the experience of the war for succeeding generations. Robert Graves, Frederick Manning and Guy Chapman also produced masterpieces of prose.

Our journey takes us from the Somme to the 1918 battlefields where Owen won the MC and the cellar from which he wrote his last letter before he was killed in an attack just eight days before the Armistice. We visit the graves of Isaac Rosenberg and Edward Thomas, both killed at the Battle of Arras. William Noel Hodgson, who predicted his own death in verse, lies buried with his men in the haunting Devonshire Trench Cemetery. We will see where Ivor Gurney set to music the verses of his friend Will Harvey, and where the lyrical composer George Butterworth lost his life.

There is no more moving or powerful evocation of the Great War than hearing the words of soldiers at the places where they fought and died. We examine the work and experiences of many other writers; let us know if some writing or writer is of particular interest to you. Simon Jones, our experienced and popular battlefield guide, taught the history, literature and art of the Great War at Liverpool University and is now an author and lecturer.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Friday): Depart Victoria Coach Station London 08:45. Dover-Calais ferry. On the journey south we look at some of the poems written before the war and in the early months. We then visit the battlefields of Givenchy and Loos to discuss the experiences and writing of men such as Robert Graves and Charles Sorley who served in this lesser known area. On to our Arras hotel, where we stay for 3 nights. Evening talk and dinner.
Day 2: Writers who served on the Somme battlefield, include Siegfried Sassoon, David Jones, Noel Hodgson, Edmund Blunden and A.P.Herbert and we will discuss their writing at Mametz, Fricourt, Serre, Thiepval and Guillemont. Lunch in Auchonvillers. Own dinner in Arras.
Day 3: The Wilfred Owen trail to St. Quentin, the Hindenburg Line, Ors and the Sambre Canal. Group lunch and dinner in our hotel.
Day 4: We discuss the work of Edward Thomas and Isaac Rosenberg and visit relevant battlefield areas and the grave of Rosenberg near Arras. Lunch break in Arras. Calais-Dover ferry. Arrive approximately 18:45 Dover and 20:30 London.