Roland Aubrey Leighton (27 March 1895 – 23 December 1915) was a British poet and soldier, made posthumously famous by his fiancée Vera Brittain's memoir, Testament of Youth.
Roland was brought up initially at "Vallombrosa" 40 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, North London, and later at "Heather Cliff" a large Edwardian house above the beach at Lowestoft.
When World War I broke out in 1914, he was highly motivated to join the fighting by ideas of patriotism, honour and duty, and sought to get to the front.
[4] After this experience, he procured a "general fitness" certificate from a local GP which did not make reference to his myopia, and was able to secure a commission as a second lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment on 21 October 1914.
(And you did not see them grow, where his mangled body lay, Hiding horror from the day; Sweetest it was better so) Violets from oversea, To your dear, far, forgetting land, These I send in memory, Knowing you will understand.
The sunshine on the long white road That ribboned down the hill, The velvet clematis that clung Around your window sill, Are waiting for you still.
Again the shadowed pool shall break, In dimples round your feet, And when the thrush sings in your wood, Unknowing you may meet Another stranger, sweet.
Vera Brittain wrote several poems commemorating Leighton's life which were published in her 1918 work, Verses of a V.A.D., and her later volume Because You Died.
Brittain's Chronicle of Youth, which contains her diaries 1913–1917, includes entries about Leighton and their relationship, excerpts from his letters from the battlefield and his poetry.
His brother Evelyn, five years his junior, joined the Royal Navy, reaching the rank of captain; he was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 and awarded the OBE.
In the 1979 TV adaptation of Testament of Youth Leighton was played by Peter Woodward, with Cheryl Campbell taking the part of Vera.
In the 2014 feature film of Testament of Youth, Leighton was played by Kit Harington, alongside Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain.
Hollis stated about the song, "That was someone born before the turn of the century … and dying within one year of the First World War at a young age.