F W Harvey the Gloucester poet and soldier - a talk by Phil Davies
Frederick William Harvey was one of a generation whose lives were splintered by World War I, and one of that group of war poets for whom the war changed everything. He joined the 5th Battalion of the Gloucestershire regiment only five days after war was declared, and was among the first Territorials to land in France. As a Lance-corporal he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry, and was commissioned shortly afterwards. He survived the Somme offensive but in August 1916 was captured by the Germans while reconnoitering alone behind enemy lines. He spent the rest of the war in POW camps. A contemporary of Owen, Sassoon, Brooke and Thomas, and with Ivor Gurney his closest friend, Harvey set down in verse his longing for his Gloucestershire homeland, his outrage at the waste of war, his joy in comradeship, his humour and his unflinching faith.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81730184186?pwd=tR46EqwTr7nu5IQ6LrqB3trAYQuNv6.1