Siegfried Sassoon meets the Canadians
Siegfried Sassoon is on our reading list for his three works, Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man, Memoirs of an Infantry Officer and Sherston`s Progress. They are an incredible look back to England as it was before 1914 and through his service as an Infantry Officer on some of the fiercest fighting on the Western Front. He served with Robert Graves who is also on the list here
Having read his three works twice you learn more and more. Then, in the summer of 2014, his note books were published on line.
An intro from the Library of Cambridge University informs us that “Cambridge University Library holds the world’s richest assemblage of Sassoon’s manuscripts and archival papers. Accumulated from various sources over the course of several decades, the collection was magnificently augmented in 2009 with the acquisition of the papers formerly retained in the possession of Sassoon’s only child, George. A gifted diarist, Sassoon kept a journal for most of his life, and the papers include a run stretching from 1905 to 1959. At the heart of this series are the war diaries, a fascinating resource for the study of the literature of the First World War which enables a fresh analysis of Sassoon’s experience of the catastrophic war which influenced him profoundly.”
So far so good?
Your webmaster noted Sassoon met a Canadian Officer in the line. Was there more to this? There probably is but every day life intrudes on exploring the notebooks for the moment. You can read all his World War One notebooks online above.
In the meantime here are a few comedic and tragic links to Sigfried Sassoon, the Canadians and the great literature of WW1.
He mentions he`s co-located with the 24th Cdn Bn at this link
Drunk officer on parade in Marseilles
Every Boche you kill is a point scored for our side — Search for what they said about Operation Llandovery Castle – the 8th August attack at Amiens
The Army is kept going by Stunts like these
He meets more Canadians 24th Bn Victoria Rifles in Mercatel – south of Arras read to item 38
The noisy battlefield under German shelling
Canadians are fine fighters – Bloodthirsty Brutes, complete absence of WIND UP = Fear
Drink and Death – nothing to do – no YMCA
Dead Canadian hauled out of the Trenches – he meets Winston Churchill and Maynard Keynes soon after.