Second Lieutenant Edward Thomas of the Artists’ Rifles died at the Battle of Arras 106 years ago today.

The account of his death said that on Easter Monday, 9th April 1917, a shell had passed close by to him. His body was said to have been unmarked, but the shock was said to have killed him. The truth of the story seems to have been more prosaic.

Edward Thomas’ poem Adlestrop must be one of the most evocative in the English language.

Yes, I remember Adlestrop —
the name, because