The origin of our name

People often ask why we are called Wilful Missing. Well, our Sam Kipling shares a surname with one Rudyard; Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called Wilful Missing.  Simple as that, really.

George Simmers, on his blog devoted to Great War Fiction, has written a piece entitled Kipling, Deserters and Outcasts. There you can read the full poem, as well as George’s interesting thoughts on Rudyard Kipling’s inspiration and motives in writing Wilful Missing.

Just think, if Sam had chosen a different poem, we could equally have been called The Absent-Minded Beggar or The Wet Litany.