To any dead officer

A cross for Good Friday and a reminder that we are in the middle of commemorating the centenary of the Great War. ........... "Good-bye, old lad! Remember me to God, And tell Him that our politicians swear They won’t give in till Prussian Rule’s been trod Under the Heel of England ... Are you there? ... Yes ... and the war won’t end for at least two years; But we’ve got stacks of men ... I’m blind with tears, Staring into the dark. Cheero! I wish they’d killed you in a decent show."

From To any Dead Officer. Siegfried Sassoon. June 1917

The photograph is of the binding illustration for Anthem for Doomed Youth. Poets of the Great War. Edited by Lyn Macdonald. 2000. The original was taken by Ernest Brooks in August 1917 and is entitled Silhouette: seeking a comrade's grave, Pilckem Ridge.

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