Page:Soldier poets, songs of the fighting men, 1916.djvu/14

Rh flowed in from all parts of our far-flung battle-line. Scores of slim volumes and hundreds of separate poems have come from men in the Army—from France and Flanders, Gallipoli and the Soudan, Egypt and East Africa. The published volumes have not been laid under contribution, but some of the poems collected here have appeared in The Poetry Review, in which a greatly appreciated feature has been made of contributions by soldiers, while we are indebted to The New Witness for permission to include typical poems by Lieutenant Geoffrey Howard and the late Lieutenant W. N. Hodgson, M.C., who left Oxford to join the Army and found a grave in France in July last. About the same time Lieutenant Victor Ratcliffe was killed in action near Fricourt, and as this volume is going through the press we hear that Sergeant Streets, who was a miner before he enlisted in August, 1914, and Corporal Robertson have been "missing" since July 1. This is their priceless legacy. No further introduction or commentary is needed.

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September, 1916.

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