Arthur Graeme West
1891—1917
Arthur Graeme West was born in Norwich, England and grew up in London, the son of an evangelist and former missionary. West attended Blundell’s School where he first met C.E.M. Joad, a lifelong friend who had much to do with West’s posthumous reputation. Both young men won scholarships to Balliol College, Oxford. Joad was a pacifist and early objector to World War I. West enlisted in 1914 and, after being turned down initially for poor eyesight, eventually saw action in the trenches in France. Promoted for officer training, West endured the incompetence of senior army staff and, coupled with the horrors he had seen in France, gradually lost his belief in the war and religion both. West returned to active duty as Captain and was killed by a sniper near Bapaume.
Joad edited and saw through to publication a version of West’s war diary. Published as The Diary of a Dead Officer: Being the Posthumous Papers of Arthur Graeme West (1919), the book was one of the earliest to link idealistic jingoism to the slaughter in the trenches. There is evidence that Joad heavily edited West’s account, which portrayed West as completely unsuited for army life. But West’s book contains some of the earliest verse to portray the reality of army life, including poems such as “The Night Patrol” and “God! How I hate you, you cheerful young men.”
Joad edited and saw through to publication a version of West’s war diary. Published as The Diary of a Dead Officer: Being the Posthumous Papers of Arthur Graeme West (1919), the book was one of the earliest to link idealistic jingoism to the slaughter in the trenches. There is evidence that Joad heavily edited West’s account, which portrayed West as completely unsuited for army life. But West’s book contains some of the earliest verse to portray the reality of army life, including poems such as “The Night Patrol” and “God! How I hate you, you cheerful young men.”