Biography of Siegfried Sassoon
I wrote this biography of Siegfried Sassoon for a poster display that accompanied 'The Pity of War' event.
Siegfried Sassoon was born on 8th September 1886 at Weirleigh in Kent, the second of three sons of Albert and his wife Georgiana. He was educated at New Beacon School in Sevenoaks, Marlborough College and Cambridge University, but left there without a degree.
At the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Sussex Yeomanry. In May 1915 he became an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and was posted to the Western Front in France. In July 2016 he was awarded the Military Cross.
In 1917 Sassoon declined to return to duty after a period of convalescent leave and sent a letter to his commanding office "as an act of wilful defiance of military authority". Due to the intervention of influential friends, instead of being court-marshaled he was sent for 'treatment' to Craiglockhart Hospital 'near Edinburgh'.
At Craiglockhart he met Wilfred Owen. Unimpressed when shown the younger man's earlier poetry, Sassoon advised him to write about his war experiences. The resulting 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' was a particular 'revelation'. The word Anthem was added at Sassoon's suggestion and he also pencilled in some other small changes on that first draft. Owen had found a mentor and a friend.
Sassoon returned to France after convalescing, but his active service ended when he was accidentally shot in the head by one of his own men. He spent the remainder of the war in England, celebrated both for his poetry and his prose. He died on 1st September 1967, a week before his 81st birthday.
At the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Sussex Yeomanry. In May 1915 he became an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and was posted to the Western Front in France. In July 2016 he was awarded the Military Cross.
In 1917 Sassoon declined to return to duty after a period of convalescent leave and sent a letter to his commanding office "as an act of wilful defiance of military authority". Due to the intervention of influential friends, instead of being court-marshaled he was sent for 'treatment' to Craiglockhart Hospital 'near Edinburgh'.
At Craiglockhart he met Wilfred Owen. Unimpressed when shown the younger man's earlier poetry, Sassoon advised him to write about his war experiences. The resulting 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' was a particular 'revelation'. The word Anthem was added at Sassoon's suggestion and he also pencilled in some other small changes on that first draft. Owen had found a mentor and a friend.
Sassoon returned to France after convalescing, but his active service ended when he was accidentally shot in the head by one of his own men. He spent the remainder of the war in England, celebrated both for his poetry and his prose. He died on 1st September 1967, a week before his 81st birthday.
Lines from 'The Rear-Guard'
by Siegfried Sassoon
Groping along the tunnel, step by step,
He winked his prying torch with patching glare From side to side, and sniffed the unwholesome air. Tripping, he grabbed the wall; saw someone lie Humped at his feet, half-hidden by a rug, And stooped to give the sleeper's arm a tug. "I'm looking for headquarters." No reply. "God blast your neck!" (For days he'd had no sleep.) "Get up and guide me through this stinking place." Savage, he kicked a soft, unanswering heap, And flashed his beam across the livid face Terribly glaring up, whose eyes yet wore Agony dying hard ten days before. |