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

under your nose’. 106 We can still learn from other nations’ efforts to secure an intellectual, artistic,
historical and sociological record for future generations. However we might go about that task, it is
clear that more, much more, can and must be done by both the poetry establishment and the MOD
to ensure that contemporary British War Poetry from the first decade of the twenty-first century is
collected, collated, celebrated and communicated to as wide an audience as possible. 107 The
challenge is whether this country has the energy, wit and wisdom to do so in a responsible manner.
106 Kiedrich Rhys, ‘Introduction’, ‘Poems from the Forces’, (1941), cited by High Haughton, ‘Anthologizing War’, The
Oxford Handbook of British & Irish War Poetry, ed Tim Kendall (Oxford University Press, 2009), page 432.
107 And whilst the British poetry establishment and the MOD might seem odd bedfellows, it is worth noting the
comments of Douglas Wilson, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Pentagon: ‘There is an assumption that the
arts and our men and women in uniform are from different planets. Its not the case. The arts can provide a means to
discuss and explore.’, ‘Theatre of War: British give US troops and Afghan history lesson’, The Daily Telegraph, 12 th
February 2011.
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