Previously unseen poems written by a celebrated First World War poet are being made available to the public by the University of York for the first time.

Bridlington- born John Stanley Purvis published his highly-regarded poems, such as High Wood and Chance Memory, under the name Philip Johnstone, and never revealed his true identity

However his notebook, containing handwritten poems, was uncovered among an archive of Purvis' personal documents.

The notebook was donated to the University's Borthwick Institute for Archives in 1991, and confirmed that Purvis hid the fact that he was the celebrated war poet.

An anthology of his poems are to be published, titled Versus and Fragments, Poems of the Great War, to mark the Borthwick Institute’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

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Gary Brannan, Keeper of Archives and Research Collections at the University of York, said: “Purvis is as well-regarded as people like Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen when it comes to war poetry, but it's only recently that the rest of his poems have surfaced.

"It is truly remarkable that, a century later, we will see the publication of a whole new anthology by a Great War poet - one who ended up founding the Borthwick.”

It isn't known why Purvis kept this identity a secret, although it has been theorised that he chose to due to the experiences he had during the war.

After spending several months at the Front before being injured during an attack on High Wood in September 1916, he suffered the effects of shellshock and trauma as a result of the death of his younger brother, George, whilst in action in 1917.

Purvis also risked his life to take photographs documenting his experiences, which he may have faced court for if they had been discovered.

Gary added: "We know the experiences of war affected him greatly, being part of an attack - going over the top - at High Wood was likely profound enough, but we know he was also deeply affected by the death of his younger brother George in action in 1917.

“He finishes writing High Wood just before he hears of his brother’s death, and the latest papers given to us include the telegram and letter sent to Purvis’s mother informing them of George’s death.

“Purvis was clearly an incredibly talented, brave, and complex person, and we are so very proud to be connected with him through the archives and honoured to be able to give him the poetry volume he never had during his lifetime.”

After the war, Purvis, who was born in 1890 and educated at Cambridge, went on to teach classics.

He served as a vicar of Old Malton in the 1940s before moving to St Sampson with Holy Trinity in York in 1947.

He later became a Canon at York Minster and the first director of the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research in York from 1953 to 1963.