Tag: Alan P Herbert

Alan P Herbert

Written by Lawrance, W on 24th September, 2011. Posted in Poet Biographies.

Alan Patrick Herbert was born on September 24th 1890, at Ashtead in Surrey, the oldest of the three sons of Patrick and Beatrice Herbert (née Selwyn). His father’s job, as a civil servant at the India Office ensured a comfortable and happy childhood for Alan and his two younger brothers, Sidney and Owen. However, their idyllic childhood ended in 1898, when their mother died from consumption aged just 33 and the care of the three boys fell to their housekeeper, Amelia Deacon.

At the age of nine, Herbert was sent to a preparatory school called The Grange, at Folkestone in Kent, moving on to Winchester College in 1904, where one of his contemporaries was the future war poet, Robert Nichols. Herbert moved up to New College, Oxford in October 1910, having first published several poems in Punch Magazine during the previous summer. He also began working at Missions for the poor, which work he continued while at Oxford, where his contemporaries included the Prime Minister’s son, Cyril Asquith and Francis Newbolt, the son of Sir Henry Newbolt. Having graduated with a First in Jurisprudence, Herbert was staying with the Newbolts at their home at Netherhampton, in Salisbury, when the First World War was declared and he enlisted as an Ordinary Seaman in the Royal Naval Reserve on 5th September 1914.

In the meantime, Herbert had also fallen in love, with Gwendolen Quilter, and the couple were married on December 31st 1914 at St James Church, Bethnal Green. Theirs was a long and happy marriage and they had four children: three daughters (Crystal, Jocelyn and Lavender) and a son named John. However, the First World War had already claimed the first of many friends and family, when Herbert’s youngest brother, Owen, was killed on 27th October 1914, while serving as a Second Lieutenant in the 23rd Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery.

Herbert himself was quickly promoted, first to Leading Seaman and then to Temporary Sub-Lieutenant and he joined Hawke Battalion when it sailed for Gallipoli on 10th May 1915. He enjoyed the unconventional nature of the Royal Naval Division, which stuck to naval traditions, despite its service on land, and refused to adhere to army regulations.

Herbert continued to write poetry, which was again published in Punch, but once in Gallipoli, he developed a severe digestive disorder and was invalided back to England in August 1915, to find that his father had died in his absence (on June 14th). He and Gwen rented a house at 12 Hammersmith Terrace, backing on to the River Thames, enabling Herbert to fuel his love of the water and boating.

By the time Herbert rejoined his battalion, they had returned from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign and were serving on the Western Front. He was promoted to Assistant Adjutant in July 1916, which kept him out of the fighting during the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916, during which Hawke Battalion suffered catastrophic losses, with 400 casualties out of 435 men. The whole division suffered similarly and was withdrawn for major re-structuring, returning to the front in January 1917. Herbert then remained at the front, keeping his men in good humour and refusing (as usual) to conform, until he was wounded in April 1917. While recovering in England, he wrote his semi-autobiographical account of the war, Secret Battle, which was published in 1919, to great acclaim. Herbert only returned to fighting one month before the armistice, which was declared while he was serving in Algeria.

After the war, Herbert joined the staff at Punch Magazine, where he wrote satirical articles on the legal profession. He also wrote novels, musicals, comic operas and plays, some of which were performed at the Lyric Theatre in London.

In 1935, Herbert successfully stood for parliament in the Oxford University seat, as an independent candidate. He made his mark in the House of Commons, with the passing of the Matrimonial Causes Act (also known as the Herbert Act) of 1937, which simplified divorce proceedings.

During the Second World War, Herbert served as a Petty Officer in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Patrol, which formed part of the London defences on the River Thames. In May 1941, however, Herbert lost his only surviving brother, Sidney, who had been serving as an Engineering Officer aboard HMS Hood, which was sunk by the German battleship, Bismarck. Gwen served throughout the war as an ambulance driver, despite her husband’s absence and the fact that their house was bombed twice.

In 1945, Herbert was knighted and continued to serve in parliament until 1950 when the University seats were abolished. In his later years, he became irritated by those who attempted to provide a different – and in his mind, inaccurate – representation of the First World War. Among his targets was the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop production of Oh What a Lovely War, which Herbert accused of trivialising his past.

In common with many who served, the First World War would remain a subject dear to his heart throughout Herbert’s life as he was haunted not only by his experiences, but also by the friendships made and lost during the conflict. It seems, therefore, somehow appropriate that, when Alan Herbert died in 1971, the date of his death should have been 11th November: the day on which so many people remember the sacrifices made by the young men of his generation.

The Dardanelles

Written by web.admin on 17th May, 2011. Posted in Featured Posts, History.

While a great deal of the action during the First World War took place on the Western Front, there were many among the Allies who sought to divert attention to somewhere else and it was generally agreed that the best place for this was to launch an offensive in the Dardanelles, against the Turks. This plan was proposed to the war cabinet by First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill and consisted initially of a series of naval attacks, which began on February 19th. Over the coming weeks, the British and French naval vessels bombarded the Dardanelles, but many ships were lost, particularly from mines and the offensive was soon abandoned.

It was decided, therefore, that a full ground attack was required and, on April 25th, this began with landings at Helles and Gaba Tepe (which became known as Anzac Cove). Although two beachheads were established and further landings were made, the Turks were well dug-in and prepared for defence. By the middle of 1915, little progress had been made, but there were many casualties both from battle wounds and due to various digestive disorders.

The campaign continued through the summer, but by the autumn, there was stalemate and it was decided that Allied Troops should be withdrawn. This exercise, which was probably the most successful part of the whole campaign, began on 7th December.

The Dardanelles campaign, or Gallipoli – as it has now become known – saw the first major combat of the war for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), who suffered huge losses, but showed themselves to be both brave and honourable men. Due to the failure of this campaign, Winston Churchill resigned from the government and went to the Western Front, where he served for several months.

Gallipoli Literary Links

Several of the war poets served in the Dardanelles Campaign, including Patrick Shaw-Stewart, Nowell Oxland, Geoffrey Dearmer and Alan P. Herbert. Rupert Brooke also sailed for Gallipoli on 28th February 1915 aboard the Grantully Castle. By the beginning of April, while still on board, he had become sick, having developed a sore on his upper lip. Although his health seemed to rally, by 20th April he was again complaining of feeling unwell and was transferred to a hospital ship, where surgeons and medical officers diagnosed the cause of the problem as an infected mosquito bite. Rupert Brooke died on the afternoon of 23rd April 1915, appropriately St George’s Day. In a hastily organised funeral on the nearby island of Skyros, he was buried in an olive grove in a simple ceremony attended by his friends, including Arthur Asquith and Patrick Shaw-Stewart.

Patrick Shaw-Stewart himself, like Brooke, served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, seeing action at Gallipoli, which he survived. A poet of great promise, he had attended Balliol College, Oxford with Julian Grenfell and showed every sign of a promising future, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Shaw-Stewart was killed in action on 30th December 1917, having refused to go back to his own lines, despite the fact that his ear had been torn off by shrapnel shortly beforehand.

Nowell Oxland had been a childhood friend of fellow war poet William Noel Hodgson and both men had volunteered to serve in the early days of the conflict. Oxland served with the 6th Border Regiment and wrote a poem entitled “Outward Bound” in which he expresses his prophetic regret that he will not return from overseas to see his beloved Cumberland again. This proved sadly true as Oxland was killed at Suvla Bay on 9th August 1915.

Geoffrey Dearmer became one of the longest surviving war poets, living until August 1996, by which time he was 103 years old. During the First World War, Dearmer served with the Royal Fusiliers and the Royal Army Service Corps, seeing action in Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Both his mother and his younger brother, Christopher died during the conflict, the former while nursing and the latter at Gallipoli on 6th October 1915. The son of a clergyman, Dearmer went on to work for the BBC for twenty years and, despite his experiences in the First World War, retained his faith, never becoming embittered.

Alan P. Herbert saw action in Gallipoli serving like Brooke and Shaw-Stewart, in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He had volunteered on 5th September 1914, sailing for the Dardanelles the following May. By this time, his youngest brother, Owen had already been killed on 27th October 1914. Herbert was invalided home in August 1915, only to find that his father had died in his absence. He also saw action on the Western Front, where he was wounded, only returning to his unit just before the Armistice. After the war, he joined the staff of Punch Magazine and stood, successfully, as an MP in 1935. During the Second World War, Herbert served as a Petty Officer in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Patrol and his wife, Gwen (whom he had married in 1914, just before he went to war) was an ambulance driver. He died in 1971, appropriately on November 11th, still haunted by the friendships he had made and lost on the battlefields of the First World War.