Heroes 100 Poems from the New Generation of War Poets Synopsis
In 2010, with the full support of the MOD, John Jeffcock, poet and a former soldier in the Coldstream Guards, invited contributions for a book of modern war poems. He was overwhelmed by the response: contributions came from serving soldiers, veterans and their families - wives, sisters, and daughters (one just 11 years old). The writers have one thing in common: these are people whose lives have been changed by war, and the poems speak to readers with direct, emotional appeal. While over half of the contributions relate to Afghanistan, there are also poems inspired by the Second World War, The Falklands and Northern Ireland. This is also the first time that poems have been gathered from all ranks and all organizations - from the Parachute Regiment to the Special Air Service, from the Gordon Highlanders to the Royal Marines. As the poetry of Brooke, Owen and Sassoon spoke to those who endured the First World War, here are poems that speak of war in our time - the theatres of war might change but the emotional resonance remains the same.
John Jeffcock, born in London in 1968, passed out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1989 to join the Coldstream Guards. He was part of the Allied Force that entered Iraq and freed Kuwait, the UN protection force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and served in South Armagh's 'Bandit Country', one of the most notorious parts of Northern Ireland. Over the same period he trained in armoured infantry in Germany, desert and jungle warfare in Kenya and ceremonial duties in London. He was mentioned in despatches, won one of the most arduous infantry competitions and left the army after six years as a captain. He is married to Katrin and lives in West London with his family.
