A E Tomlinson (1892-1968)

Poet, Albert Ernest Tomlinson, studied at Middlesborough High School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

He enlisted in the South Staffordshire Regiment on 4th June 1915 as 2nd Lieutenant, trained at Brocton Camp on Cannock Chase before leaving for France in March 1916. In July he was wounded and spent time recuperating in England before returning to active service in August 1917.

The war inspired Tomlinson’s creativity and he produced a range of work, including war poems, which were published shortly after the Armistice. He combined an awareness of social realism with an educated literary sensibility, including first hand accounts of life in the trenches.

Candour was a collection of his first poems which was published in 1922.

from “To German Soldiers”
As crump-hole differs from crump-hole, as mire may be softer than mire,
As the cut of the tunics won’t help much when the men are maimed yet alive,
So killerman Grey and killerman Drab are oafs of one sire,
Settling problems of population with Mills, Number Five.