A.A. Milne (1882 – 1956) – British writer and poet

Although he is famous for creating the "Winnie the Pooh" stories, believe it or not A.A. Milne was also a poet.

 

Alan Alexander Milne was born on 18th January 1882 in Kilburn, London.  His father was John Vine Milne, a public school headmaster, and his mother Sarah Marie Milne, nee Heginbotham.  Alan had two brothers – David B. and Kenneth John.   He married Dorothy “Daphne” de Selincourt in 1913.   Alan was a member of J.M. Barrie's recreational cricket team the 'Allahakbarries'.

Commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant on 17th February 1915, Alan was posted to The Somme in the summer of 1916.   He contracted Trench Fever while there and was sent back to Britain to recover.  After that he joined the Royal Corps of Signals and later worked for Military Intelligence.

Alan and Dorothy’s son Christopher Robin was born in 1925.

During the Second World War, Alan was a Captain in the Home Guard.  He died in 1956.  A.A. Milne's WW1 poetry collection "For the luncheon interval: cricket and other verses" was published in 1925 by Methuen, London. 

A.A. Milne is one of the poets featured in the "Songs of the Somme" Exhibition at the Wilfred Owen Story Museum in Argyle Street, Birkenhead, Wirral, UK, CH41 6AE. The museum, run entirely by volunteers, is open Tuesday - Friday from 11 am till 2 pm.  Advisable to phone first - see website http://www.wilfredowenstory.com/ 

Photo:  'Winnipeg' the brown bear mascot of the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps (CAVC) brought to England in 1914 by Lt. Harry Colebourne and allowed to remain in London Zoo where Christopher Robin used to visit her regularly.