'The Red Poppy' poem below is published here for Armistice Day 2007. Please use it in your
own fund raising events.
25% of the proceeds of every copy of 'Stars of Burma' will be donated to war veterans, former
and serving.
Stars of Burma
click here to buy a copy from Natula Publications
tribute to war veterans for Armistice Day 2007
The Red Poppy
A myriad hosts of Heaven will not recompense
for their lost youth
unknown, heroic overcome; had you died
by whining bullet
spattering your brain, or been propped mummified
remote - a lost cause -
swaddled, left, wrapped as some nameless child
relinquished; and
had they lived long as sunflower open to the light
contains its seed,
they would not begrudge a coin for replica
of scarlet flower,
one worn on suit to adorn button-hole; they who had
borne a million such
dancing their crimson score in far
cornfields' rain and sun.
Please buy a copy and
support the
veterans
What they said...
"Kathleen has her own poetic voice" Samuel Hynes, Princeton University, New Jersey
"A dedicated and excellent effort" The Viscount Slim, President of the Burma Star Association
"A welcome addition to Prince Philip's library"
Buckingham Palace
"Kathleen Ross ventures successfully into free verse and the sonnet form."
Dekho! - Journal of the Burma Star Association
Superbly presented and illustrated with carefully researched contemporary photographs, this book encapsulates the mood
and experiences of the time. The poems are based on real events. It is an essential addition to any personal or historical
library.
"Lest we forget". A surprising number of us have relatives, living or deceased who were forced to participate in
this horrific campaign in the Far East.
Please support the veterans by buying a copy. Your act of commemoration means alot to them and their families.
Profits will go to help the veterans.
Kathleen the Nurse
"When you go home
Tell of us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today."
Inscription on the war
memorial at Kohima,
translated from a
Greek Epitaph.
BLESMA is the British Limbless Ex-Service Men and Women's Association. Councillor Peter Crawford acts as the local
welfare officer in Tunbridge Wells. BLESMA helps to care for the ex-service people who have been handicapped by their war
service. To find out more about BLESMA or to make a donation, click on the picture to go to their web site, or e-mail
blesma@btconnect.com.
Driven by the powerful emotions of her personal experience of war, Kathleen has paid tribute to the memory and sacrifice
of the 'Forgotten Army' of the Burma Campaign of the Second World War. The poems have been published to coincide with the
60th anniversary year of V.J. Day (Victory Japan Day), because the 'forgotten army' was forced to continue fighting for another
year after V.E. Day (Victory Europe) had been declared. The commemoration of the brave men and women of many nationalities
is important now more than ever, because so few of them remain.
Born in 1916 whilst her father was fighting in the trenches in Normandy and married in 1939 at the onset of World War Two,
Kathleen recalls the impact of war on both fighting personnel and civilian life. She trained as a nurse, and experienced
both the trauma of the London Blitz and the dislocating experience of evacuation to the countryside.
She has six daughters, is widowed and lives in southern England. She celebrated her ninetieth birthday in 2006.
January 2007
Fiona and Mum
Stars of Burma is published by Natula Publications. Paperback. Colour cover.
B & W Illustrations. ISBN 897887 53 1. Price £9.95 + £2 p&p. Cheques payable to Natula Publications.
For how to order contact Natula Publications at 5, St Margaret's Avenue, Christchurch, Dorset. BH23 1JD. Tel:
00 44 (0) 1202 480569.
