Vernède enlisted with the British Army as a second lieutenant at the start of World War I, even though he was over the maximum age of service. He served in France, was wounded in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, and returned to the front upon his recovery. Vernède died shortly after being wounded by machine gun fire while leading an advance at Havrincourt in April 1917. Vernède's war poems were filled with the patriotic optimism of the early war years, but it would be unfair to describe him as a propagandist as he never published his poetry. This, his only collection, was published shortly after his death. (Summary by KevinS)