Actor Larry Lamb said headlining the UK’s first Military History Festival would allow him to read war poetry he has loved since childhood.

Lamb is to share poetry and anecdotes at College Hall, Hereford Cathedral, on 27 September, the second day of the three-day event.

He said his father was “mad keen” on poetry and read to him from anthologies after surviving World War Two.

“He would read me poems that really appealed to him and they kind of stuck,” Lamb said. “There’s two or three of them that I really loved as a kid and still do now.”

The festival will bring together 40 authors, historians and military experts from 26 to 28 September at the cathedral, The Green Dragon Hotel and the Castle Green pavillion.

Lamb said during his event he would also be sharing his own personal poetry “which fits the bill”.

The actor said he had recently returned to writing poetry after a long hiatus, and had been keen for the festival to feature the genre.

Earlier in the year he released his debut novel, All Wrapped Up, about a film crew who travel to the Caribbean to make a film but find everything goes wrong.

He described writing as like “an extended improvisation”, but that he needed total solitude to achieve his goal of 1,000 words a day.

“I have to be completely locked away. I have to be isolated, I can’t have any interference. I don’t watch any television, any films, listen to radio, read anything at all, I just shut off. And that’s it,” he said.

The festival will also feature discussions with Kate Adie, Philippe Sands and Claire Mulley, exploring global military history through a variety of themes.

The full line-up is available on the festival website.