Book Review: Lest We Forget by Becky Bishop

I only recently discovered Becky’s beautiful poetry but I am so glad I did.  Becky writes from the heart and her haunting and moving poems will surely resonate with those of us who lost relatives due to wars.  "Lest We Forget" is Becky'’s second collection of war-themed poems and contains poems inspired by both of the world conflicts.  Here you will find poems relating to conscientious objectors, the holocaust, shot at dawn, special operations executive, the Battle of Britain and D-Day, to name but a few of the subjects Becky has felt drawn to write about.

I enjoyed reading all of the poems but I particularly like “No longer a forgotten casualty” (p.15), written in memory of Gunner William George Foxworth. I like this poem partly because I am the Granddaughter of a Gunner but also because Gunner Foxworth initially had a civilian grave but, with the help of a relative, he has now been declared an official WW1 casualty.

Another dedicated poem is “Conscientious Objector” on page 76, written to the memory of Stephen Hobhouse. Stephen was a cousin of one of my “heroines” – the charity worker and campaigner for peace Emily Hobhouse, who we included in an exhibtiion about some of the Inspirational Women of WW1 which we organised during the WW1 centenary years

Becky has illustrated the book throughout with photographs taken on her many visits to museums, memorials and exhibitions both in the UK and elsewhere.  

As with Becky’s first war-themed collection - “At The Going Down of the Sun” - to my mind, these poems should be read by all school children and by anyone planning on visiting the memorials and graves commemorating the dead of wars.

Lucy London, July 2020

You can buy your copy of the book via mail order  HERE