Frederick Victor Branford Biography

Frederick Victor Branford (1892–1941) was a British poet, known for verse of World War I and the years after.

Born Frederick Victor Rubens Branford Powell, the son of Mary Branford, was known as 'Freddie'. Branford was brought up by his aunt, Dorothy and after her separation from Lionel Branford, they lived in Ardgay, Scotland.

He was educated at Edinburgh University and Leiden University. Serving as a Captain in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I, Branford was very badly wounded at the Battle of the Somme, when he was shot down over the Belgian coast and swam ashore to Holland, where he was interned. Most of his poems were written in a long period of recovery from his injuries, which left him totally disabled. He lived on a disability pension for the rest of his life.

Branford stopped writing poetry in 1923, disillusioned with the prospects for future peace. He remarried in 1937, his second wife was his cousin Margaret Branford, the playwright daughter of John Branford.