For This Alone

Ronald Mogg become a poet under the most discouraging circumstances. Trained as a journalist, he volunteered for the Royal Air Force during World War II. Shortly after joining the service his Wellington bomber was shot down and Mogg was imprisoned in Germany along with one other survivor of the crash. He spent much of the war in various POW camps including Stalag Luft I, III and VI. It was in captivity that Mogg discovered he had a rare gift and found his voice through poetry while imprisoned. There he produced the beautiful and heart-rendering poems that comprise this collection.
Written in 1944, For this Alone is illustrated with powerful linocuts created by one of Mogg’s fellow POW  J. W. L. Lambert. The resulting package is a stunning collection of war poetry that brings readers close to the experience of the war through the poems of an airman, making this a unique contribution to both poetry and the history of WWII. First released in 1944, the reissue of this collection brings the work of Mogg to a new generation of readers.

R. P. L. Mogg was a journalist, an airman in the Royal Air Force, and a poet.