George Henry Powell

Who was George Henry Powell?

George Henry Powell was a Welsh songwriter who, under the pseudonym George Asaf, wrote the lyrics of the marching song Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag in 1915. The music was written by his brother Felix Powell, and the song was entered into a World War I competition for "best morale-building song". It won first prize and was noted as "perhaps the most optimistic song ever written". Although Felix Powell was an enthusiastic Staff Sergeant in the British Army, George Powell was a pacifist, and became a conscientious objector when conscription was imposed in 1916.