The Shadow of the Poppy

Within the ranks of a beleaguered army, hearts and thoughts turn towards home. A whole generation of young men, torn asunder by ravages of war, tormented by what would become known as the ‘Devil’s Breath’. From the rats that scampered around the dying, to the machines of steel trampling everything under their rolling treads, to the flying bullets and double-edged bayonets, the barbed-wire fencing and blood-curdling screams, ‘no man’s land’ became representative of hell.
As the demons of war raged around them, many a young man sat with a pen between their shaking fingers to write their fears: their desperation over a life that was fading…