Where are the war poets? - Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

Gioia, however, and his project had its detractors – ‘Are these returning troops once again being
used as a shield against the scrutiny of the very policy which put them in harm’s way in the first
place’ 98 Its critics point out that Operation HOMECOMING may be no more than a government’s
propaganda tool. Other veterans, now poets themselves, have questioned whether the immediate
responses of returning veterans can be sufficiently balanced to be trusted – ‘As returning veterans,
they are far too close to the war to trust their own immediate responses; they all need to come to
terms with what they’ve been through and what they’ve seen, and then they’ll be ready to tell the
stories that no one wants to hear’. 99 But equally the programme has its supporters. Brian Turner is,
for example, a grateful recipient of the programme’s support. 100
Putting aside the poetic politics once again, Operation HOMECOMING has provided an important
historical and sociological record at the very least and has given the wider US domestic audience an
insight into its service personnel and their families. It is an attractive model and, learning from it,
and in collaboration with Boeing Defence UK Limited, IWM set up the ‘War Story’ programme.
The programme started in Autumn 2009 and, working with service personnel who volunteer, it
seeks to gather, record and share the personal experiences of today’s Afghanistan conflict using a
variety of oral and written media; the programme is ongoing.
The fundamental differences between Operation HOMECOMING and War Story are twofold.
Firstly there has been no attempt to enable expert academics to work with service personnel and
their families in order to better articulate their experiences. Secondly, the IWM has chosen not to
follow a literary model, preferring instead more immediate verbal responses. 101 That is not to say
that such a programme can not be delivered in the UK. Given the level of support of Boeing and
Boeing Defence UK Limited, in both this country and the US, funding for a British version of
Operation HOMECOMING would not surely be a limiting factor. Whether there is sufficient
support from academics and writers is not clear. There has certainly been one informal offer of
academic support from Oxford academics, spearheaded by Jon Stallworthy, to support, encourage
and collaborate with servicemen returning from Afghanistan who might want to articulate their
experiences in prose, poetry and even drama. 102 Their informal offer of support has yet to be taken
up. This might reflect a complete lack of interest from the local regiment. More likely is that the
demanding and compressed schedules of today’s regiments leave little room to engage in such
activities. Perhaps the ‘Jeffcock Injured Voices’ collaboration, to which the dissertation referred
earlier, is an example of how a poet can work fruitfully with service personnel. It does seem,
however, that without a more concerted and coordinated centrist approach, any British imitation of
Operation HOMECOMING will lack a coherent and ambitious vision that can grab the attention of
service personnel, their families and the British public.
Collating the Present to Secure the Future
Although a couple of collections of contemporary war poetry have been cited, these have been
relatively slim books produced in partnership with charities and without the backing of a major
publisher and access to their markets. More fundamentally however, the question must be whether
this work could connect with a wider and potentially more critical audience. Frankly the market has
yet to be fully tested. Despite the valiant efforts of notable individuals cited here, there has neither
yet been a concerted effort to collect and collate the works of today’s service personnel and nor has
there yet been a comprehensive anthology drawing on the best representations of today’s soldier
poets.
98 Eleanor Wilner, ‘Poetry and the Pentagon: Unholy Alliance’, Poetry Magazine, (October 2004).
99 Bruce Weigl, Bronze Star Vietnam War veteran, author of seven poetry books, cited by Eleanor Wilner, ibid.
100 Brian Turner, in conversation with the author, 24 th January 2011.
101 Roger Tolson (Director Collections IWM), in correspondence with the author, 18 th February 2011.
102 The Rifles, as Oxford’s local regiment were approached through its regimental hierarchy. Jon Stallworthy, in
conversation with the author, 1 st February 2011.
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