I have loved reading books of poems since I was a little girl and, like Becky, I also write poems, some of which have been inspired by the loss of family members during wars. Becky, however, brings a wealth of tradition to her work, because she is related to WW1 soldier poet brothers the Hon. Julian Grenfell (1888 - 1915), and The Hon. Gerald William Grenfell (1890 – 1915), and to their sister, the Hon. Monica Grenfell who served as a Red Cross nurse during the First World War. And, among the 485 relatives Becky’s family lost due to conflicts, is also the WW1 soldier poet the Hon. Ivar Campbell (1890 - 1916).
Becky’s poems are written from the heart and I found them at the same time moving and inspiring. Becky has exactly captured the mood of those of us who have relatives who were lost due to conflict but have no known grave upon which to leave flowers. Many of the poems are dedicated to a particular soldier, which I think is the most wonderful way of ensuring their memory lives on.
As my research into WW1 also includes the contribution of women, I was particularly interested in the poem entitled “A Girl from Meavy” about volunteer civilian worker Armorel Kitty Trevelyan (1898 – 1917) featured on pages 56 – 57. Kitty joined the Army Service Corps (Canteens), died of measles and pneumonia at the age of 19 on 27th February 1917 and was buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Another poem that struck a chord with me was that on page 91 in memory of Wren Isabel Mary Milne-Home, who trained Wrens as telegraphists and may have trained my Aunt, who was a telegraphist with the Wrens during the Second World War. Wren Isabel was drowned when the ship the S.S. “Aguila” was sunk by enemy action in the North Atlantic in 1941 en route for Gibraltar.
Beautifully illustrated throughout with Becky’s own photographs from her visit to the Battlefields of the Western Front, this book should, to my mind, be required reading for every school pupil in order to remind them why we wear poppies in November each year. I would also hope that all the WW1 museums wherever they are would have copies, so that Becky’s poems could be read at commemorative ceremonies.
Becky is a very prolific writer and I know she has a book of short stories due out soon – I can’t wait to read them. To find out more about Becky’s work please visit her website https://beckyspoemsandbooks.
Lucy London, July 2020
