Killed in Action

[francesca]

I downloaded the three poems " killed in action" on roofsewell.com sometime ago and was convinced that there had to be more , so have been looking ever since and eventually found it on cassette.
This a series (2 tapes) of very short poems written by soldiers who were "KIlled in Action" during World War 1
The readings are shared between Rufus and Tony Britton. It was recorded in 1994 and Rufus's voice is still very young and there is a great contrast between it and the maturity of Tony's.

Any readings I have I usually listen to when I am ironing and there were times when I had to stop because I was almost moved to tears by this recording.
One very interesting reading was of the poem I think most of us (UK) learnt at school "The Soldier"by Rupert Brooke. In school we were taught it almost as an ode to England 's glory, a bit Gung ho!. Listen to Rufus's young voice reciting this NOT with glory to England but with hints of the bitterness of a young soldier who knows he is going to die and I defy you not be moved by it and at the thought of all those young men whose lives were wasted .
A splendid piece of work .
A great shame it is not better known

[numbat]

That's what i need Frannie, something else to cry about!!! I've been an emotional wreck for the last year thanks to a certain Mr RF Sewell.

But i will look for it anyway - good work and thanks for letting us know more about it!

[numbat]

Well frannie, the cassettes have arrived.

But i don't want to listen to them.



I'm bad enough with war stuff on the best of days - i don't know that i can cope with Rufus reading them.

Am already crying just typing this.................

[dippyponge]

Where can I buy these cassettes? I love Rupert Brooke poems and as he was born in my town I was taught a lot about him, probably more so than other brits even. We even have his statue here and a plaque above the house where he was born. I Would really love to here Rufus's interpretation on his poem.

[GreenEyesToo]

They're here, Dippy: www.roofsewell.com/audio.htm

[numbat]

Dippy, i bought mine from Amazon.co.uk. Search for "Killed in Action" though, not Rufus as they don't seem to have it loaded correctly with his name.

There are 37 poems read by Rufus and more read by Tony Britton.

It's heart wrenching stuff though. I've only made it to number 5 out of 84 so far, and only two of those were read by Roof.

(as far as i can work out, there are only 3 poems loaded on the website)

[kissmekate]

Does anyone know if this is still available somewhere?

I've searched amazon.co.uk but found only one copy at a whopping price

[rueful]

This seems to be a tough one.

Here's a site that says it's available and listing it for L9.59 (sorry, my keyboard doesn't do pound symbols!). ww.poetrybooks.co.uk/online_bookshop/106342/killed_in_action/

The site "worldcat" has a listing of libraries that supposedly have it (on site, since it's cassettes, not digital). www.worldcat.org/title/killed-in-action-war-poetry-compiled-and-produced-by-richard-baldwyn-read-by-tony-britton-and-rufus-sewell/oclc/254549436 Almost all are in England/UK, but the last one listed (page 3) is in Kiel, Germany, if that helps you.

Good luck!

[francesca]

I have this on cassette, bought secondhand from Amazon
sometime ago.

It is a recording of poems by poets of World Wars I and II who were killed in action or died on active service. Read by Tony Britton and Rufus.
A two cassette set of approx 80 poems ( mostly quite short ) 37 of which are read by Rufus.
It was recorded in 1994 and Rufus's voice is still very young which makes his readings all the more poignant.
His reading of
Rupert Brooke's The Soldier, which was compulsory learn-by- heart when I was at school, actually made me cry.

[kissmekate]

Oh , thank you so much!

Kiel is the wrong end of Germany, but I'll try to order it via poetrybooks, I think.

[rueful]

Sometimes it's easier to find books, even audiobooks, if you search by ISBN number instead of title.

Jan 26, 2012 17:46:48 GMT kissmekate said:

Kiel is the wrong end of Germany

Well, you and I have been discussing our common geography problems.

[kissmekate]

Oh, I could have thought of using the ISBN

And don't worry about the geography ;D

[rueful]

Jan 26, 2012 18:00:49 GMT kissmekate said:

Oh, I could have thought of using the ISBN

I didn't either, until it popped up on worldcat.

And don't worry about the geography ;D

I never do.