Frankau, Gilbert

(1884-1952)

   Born in London the son of a wholesale cigar merchant, his mother was a successful novelist, writing under the pen name of 'Frank Danby.' Although both his parents were Jewish, he was discouraged from identifying with Jews and Judaism and was baptized into the Anglican Church at the age of thirteen. He was educated at Eton College, then chose to work in the family business. He was commissioned into the 9th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment in 1914. Later, in the Royal Field Artillery, he saw service at Loos, Ypres, and the Somme, and was released in February 1918, suffering from 'shell shock.' He wrote many novels, as well as popular fiction and short stories and an autobiography. Some of his novels were made into films; one was Christopher Strong (1933) starring Katharine Hepburn. He died at his home at Hove, Sussex. Some of his poetry publications: Eton Echoes, 1901. The Guns, 1916. The City of Fear, 1917. The Judgement of Valhalla, 1918. Some of his poems: "Ammunition Column," "Eyes in the Air," "Gun Teams," "Headquarters," "Signals," "The Deserter," "The Observers," "The Voice of the Slaves."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Lives of War Poets of the First World War (http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/biogs99.htm\#GILBERT). Peace and War: A Collection of Poems. Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, eds. Oxford University Press, 1989. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Guns. Gilbert Frankau. Chatto and Windus, 1916. The Literary Encyclopedia (www.LitEncyc.com). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk).