It is a fairly well known story that R C Sherriff wrote his play, Journey’s End, to raise money for his rowing club. Or at least, that is what most people think. So, how exactly did this come about, and is the story really true?

After the First World War, Sherriff had gone back to work for Sun Insurance, but wanting something to do in his spare time, he joined the Kingston Rowing Club near to his family home in Hampton Wick. In 1921, it became clear that the Club needed to raise money for boat repairs and the Committee, of which Sherriff was a member, decided to put on a staged entertainment over two evenings on the 18th and 19th November, for which tickets would be sold. They selected the Gables Theatre in Surbiton as it had sufficient capacity and set about finding the necessary acts. Various people sang and danced, or played musical instruments, but they needed something dramatic to close the show. Sherriff was charged with finding a one-act play to fill the slot, but this proved difficult, so he suggested they write something themselves. His friends agreed and sent him away to do so – it had, after all, been his idea.

After much deliberation, Sherriff decided on a plot and presented his idea to the Committee, who rejected it. However, as no-one had any better suggestions, they agreed that Sherriff should work up a script and they would try some rehearsals. The “actors” all began to enjoy themselves and, before long, the performances were sold out. On the opening night, the play, entitled A Hitch in the Proceedings, started slowly and Sherriff worried that he’d gone wrong somewhere, but all was saved by the performances of two schoolmasters from Kingston Grammar, who very effectively played the roles of two humorous drunks. Sherriff and his younger brother, Cecil, took minor roles in the farce, the former playing the part of a vicar, by the name of “The Reverend Teddington Locke”.

This play was so well received that the Committee decided to make it a regular feature, launching the Adventurers Dramatic Society the following week. Sherriff wanted to write more plays, but the other members also wished to perform in established, well-known productions, so a compromise was reached, whereby three one-act plays would be produced, two by established playwrights and one by Sherriff. His next offering, entitled The Woods of Meadowside received excellent reviews and the Society members readily agreed that Sherriff should write the whole of the next production, which he entitled Profit and Loss. Once again, the play was well received and a further three years of amateur productions followed, during which Sherriff also took over the captaincy of the rowing club. However, with many of the other members having moved on, once this time was over, Sherriff no longer found the club or the performances so exciting, and decided to leave.

Having made this decision, Sherriff now realised how empty his life would be; his evenings and weekends had been filled with rowing club matters and playwriting for the last five years: he needed another distraction. At first, he contemplated going for a promotion at work and began working on the necessary exams. All the while, however, he was haunted by the idea of writing another play, and possibly having it produced in London. He decided to send the script for Profit and Loss to the agents Curtis Brown, who liked what he had written, but rejected it. Undeterred, Sherriff sent them a further manuscript entitled Cornlow on the Downs, which was, again, returned. Meanwhile, Sherriff had also given up on his Insurance exams; the prospect seemed just to daunting now that he was over thirty.

With his empty evenings stretching ahead, Sherriff decided to write a novel and his thoughts turned to a plot he had outlined several years earlier. This involved the story of two schoolboys: Dennis Stanhope – a handsome, sporty, popular hero; and Jimmy Raleigh – a plodder, who hero-worships Stanhope. Upon leaving school, Stanhope drifts along, achieving nothing, while Raleigh succeeds, becoming a wealthy businessman. He then tries to help his old friend Stanhope, who despises Raleigh’s success. Sherriff found, however, that novel writing was not so easy as he had thought and began to wonder whether he might be able to turn this plot into a play and whether the war might prove a useful setting or subject. He still had all the letters that he had written home during the war, kept by his parents, and knew that he would be able to make use of them. Slowly the gem of an idea began to develop, until, rather than the war playing a minor part in the play, he had decided to set it entirely in a dugout. Everything else then fell into place quite easily: the characters were people he had met; the dialogue was derived from his own experiences. Each day, he longed for the evenings, when he could work on his play, which would transport him back in time, occupying him through to the early hours of the morning.

However, having written the first few scenes, Sherriff realised that the story had nowhere to go: Raleigh and Stanhope, schoolboy friends, meet in the trenches: but then what? Sherriff had absolutely no idea. Night after night, he sat in front of blank papers, willing a plot to appear. For a brief while, he gave the whole thing up and took to reading some of his old history books, at which point he suddenly realised that the play wasn’t about a plot: it was about the characters and their relationships. Sherriff then rewrote the first act and went straight on to the second. He fumbled a few times, before moving on to the third and eventually, a year later, the play was complete. All it now needed was a title. Initially, Sherriff contemplated “Suspense”, but decided this was misleading, since the play lacked any. Next, he thought of “Waiting”, but felt this was rather too commonplace. Then, one night, while reading a book, he happened upon the following words: “It was late in the evening when we came at last to our Journey’s End”. He’d found exactly what he was looking for.

Having discovered his title, Sherriff sent the manuscript to Curtis Brown, who responded positively within a week, saying that they would do their best to ensure its production. This proved harder than anticipated, as the theatre managers shied away from war plays, believing that, ten years on from the conflict, the public was looking for something more cheerful. After several months, Sherriff had all but given up when he was told by Curtis Brown to meet the war poet, Geoffrey Dearmer, who was then a member of the Incorporated Stage Society, renowned for its highbrow weekend productions. The Society were, after some negotiations, prepared to put on the play for two performances at the Apollo Theatre on 9th and 10th December 1928. They had selected the unknown James Whale as director and when Sherriff met Whale, the author was left in no doubt that the Society had only selected his play because nothing else was available and that they expected it to fail, although Dearmer himself was a supporter of the play and Sherriff’s cause.

Whale wanted the cast to be made up of unknown actors, so that the audience would focus more on the characters and he selected 21 year-old Laurence Olivier to play Stanhope. Props and costumes were improvised or borrowed, with Olivier using Sherriff’s uniform, which only needed the addition of an MC ribbon to make it perfect for Stanhope – Sherriff having achieved the rank of Captain during the war. Sherriff didn’t attend any rehearsals after the first read-through because he still had to go to work at Sun Insurance.

On the opening night, Sherriff was so nervous, he missed sections of the play; wandering around outside the theatre and backstage to avoid seeing any potential mishaps. At the end, the applause was restrained, leaving him concerned that the play had failed, until his mother, who had been watching from a box, pointed out to him that people find it difficult to clap whilst they are crying.

The dreaded London critics were due to attend the second, and final, performance and the next morning, Sherriff anxiously awaited the arrival of the newspapers. He need not have worried: the reviews were all favourable. Later that day, James Agate, theatre critic for The Times gave his weekly radio review, in which he normally spoke about three or four productions. On this occasion, however, Agate dedicated his entire programme to Journey’s End, which he praised throughout.

With such rave reviews, Sherriff and Whale expected the play to be snapped up by a West End manager and were, therefore, disappointed when nothing immediately happened. Days turned to weeks and Sherriff began to think the play had been passed over, when Curtis Brown called, instructing Sherriff to send his manuscript to a Maurice Browne, who was interested in producing it. Sherriff only had one clean copy left and was reluctant to part with this, but there was no time to make another. It was December 23rd and Browne was going away for Christmas, wanting to take the manuscript with him. Sherriff parted with it, fully expecting that he had seen the last of his play, but the very next day he received a call from Browne to say that he would produce Journey’s End in January. So it was that the play went into the West End, opening at the Savoy Theatre on 21st January 1929, initially booked for three weeks. The original cast took their parts again, with the exception of Laurence Olivier, who had been outstanding as Stanhope, and had been offered the lead in Beau Geste at His Majesty’s Theatre. Everyone was disappointed to lose their leading man, although his place was ably taken by Colin Clive and Sherriff was greatly heartened in later years, upon reading a biography of Olivier, in which he stated that his favourite role in the theatre had been that of Stanhope in Journey’s End.

The opening night went well and, at the end of the performance, the curtain fell, leaving the theatre in complete darkness and absolute silence. As it rose again, the audience remained silent and then, very slowly, the applause began, building into a loud crescendo that Sherriff could hardly believe. The next morning, the reviews showed that the audience had not been alone in their appreciation.

Within days, Maurice Browne had done a record deal with the ticketing agents and before long, the play had been translated into 27 languages and began touring around the world. Despite this success, Sherriff retained his job at Sun Insurance, uncertain how long his good fortune would last. Suddenly, however, he was forced to make a decision that would change his life.

Maurice Browne did a deal with American producer Gilbert Miller to take the play to Broadway, but one requirement of the agreement was that Sherriff must go too. This left Sherriff in a quandary: nothing in the theatre was certain and he had a steady and secure career with Sun Insurance, but it seemed ridiculous to give up this opportunity for the sake of a job paying him £6 per week. He was beginning to despair as to what he should do, when his boss at Sun Insurance saved the day. Sir William Goschen offered him a year’s leave, during which the company would hold his job open, should he wish to return. This meant Sherriff was free to try his luck with the play, safe in the knowledge that he could return to his old job, if it failed. For this generosity, Sherriff would remain eternally grateful.

An all new British cast was selected and these men, together with the necessary props and equipment, plus Sherriff, Browne, James Whale and Gilbert Miller set sail for New York on board the Aquitania on March 13th 1929. As they neared New York, several reporters came aboard wanting to interview Sherriff. They had been told by Miller that Sherriff had written the play to raise money to buy a boat for his rowing club and it had turned into a West End hit. Sherriff, knowing that Miller had used this story to drum up press interest, hadn’t the heart to disillusion them, and so the myth of the creation of Journey’s End was born and was repeated so many times that even Sherriff began to believe it.

Sherriff returned to England after a few weeks in America and never did go back to Sun Insurance. Journey’s End ran for eighteen months in the West End, transferring to the Prince of Wales Theatre when the Savoy was closed for refurbishment. In 1930, it was made into a feature film, directed by James Whale and starring Colin Clive from the original cast. Once the play closed, Sherriff went on to write novels, further stage plays and screenplays, including The Invisible Man, Goodbye Mr Chips and The Dambusters.

He would, however, always be known as the author of Journey’s End. In the mid 1950s, he wrote a play entitled The Long Sunset, which was broadcast to a radio audience of five million by the BBC and became a studied text on one of the examining boards. Schoolchildren flocked to the Mermaid Theatre to see a production of the play by Bernard Miles and Sherriff attended twice a week to give talks and answer questions. When Sherriff describes these outings, he seems genuinely surprised, and perhaps a little humbled, that so many people should be so interested in – and indeed be studying – his play. But The Long Sunset was only studied for one year: Journey’s End has been on the syllabus at GCSE and A-Level for at least fifteen years and shows no sign of being withdrawn. We can, therefore, only imagine how proud Sherriff would be to know that Stanhope and Raleigh, and their story of hero-worship still lives on; that Hibbert still claims to have neuralgia; Trotter still eats too much and talks wistfully of home; Mason still makes onion-flavoured tea and Osborne is still everyone’s “Uncle”; and that, wherever the play is performed, audiences still find it difficult to clap when they’re crying.

Source: No Leading Lady: An Autobiography by R C Sherriff

Back in 2008, when we were informed that there was to be a production of R C Sherriff’s Journey’s End at the Electric Theatre in Guildford, we approached the producer, Sean McNamara and he agreed that we could interview the cast during rehearsals. Our main aim during these interviews was to see how the actors felt about their roles and the play in general and the impressions which they had gained from their participation. They were extremely generous with their time and provided us with some very thought-provoking answers to our questions.

From these, we have selected those which we feel are most pertinent and valuable to students of this play and we think you will agree that the actors have all given incredibly thoughtful and useful insights into playing their individual roles and into their understanding of the play as a whole. For this, and their time, we thank them.

Those interviewed were: Ben Peyton (Stanhope), Leo Staar (Hardy), Robin Colyer (Raleigh), Kevin Kiely (Company Sergeant Major).

How have you prepared for the part?

Kevin: “In real terms, I was a member of the Irish Defence Forces for three years, which enabled me to relate my own time in the military to that of the Sergeant Major in relation to discipline, honour and routine. The conditions of his service are, of course, worlds apart from my own as I served during peacetime in a politically neutral country, but the framework put in place during my training has been invaluable to me in bringing him to life.”

Robin: “A mixture of using my imagination and doing factual research. There is so much information out there, it would be foolish to attempt playing any of the characters without some understanding of what life was really like in the trenches.”

How much did you know about the play before you started?

Ben: “I’ve never seen Journey’s End, nor had I read it, although its reputation as an outstanding play hadn’t escaped my notice.”

Leo: “I was lucky enough to have studied the play in English at school, but my memories of it were very vague. So coming back to it from a dramatic perspective has been a beautiful and moving experience.”

To what extent have you been able to understand the effect of war on the individual characters?

Ben: “I believe the individual characters collectively encapsulate the many emotions war brings out in a man: heroism, optimism, cowardice, humour, fear and pride, to name but a few.”

Leo: “I think that one of the very special aspects of Journey’s End is that the war has a very different effect on each of the characters. This is especially clear when working with a character like Hardy. He doesn’t have the strength or the bravery that you would expect of a soldier, but his cowardice and laziness are what make him likeable to an extent and it’s certainly the light touch you need to open the story.”

Robin: “It’s so impossibly difficult to even come close to truly understanding the experience of the characters. Really, I think all any of us has is just a glimpse of what effect the war might have had… hopefully as we continue to research and rehearse, we gradually get more glimpses until we can somehow patch up the gaps between them with our imagination.”

Kevin: “The play is very well written and the effect the war has on everyone is clouded by how stoic the characters are. For example, Hibbert arrives at a place where he has an outright breakdown, whereas people like Hardy, Trotter and the Colonel for instance, always have a front, put up against both the outside world and the apparent judgement of their peers.”

How easy or difficult have you found it to get into (and out of) character?

Leo: “The characters of Journey’s End each embody so many traits that we all have that it is never too hard to tap into them. Getting into character is never an easy task, but as a company we have all become so close that it almost feels sometimes like we could be a military company. This has really helped me…”

Robin: “The play is well written and the emotions it stirs up so vivid, that I think it ‘comes off the page’ fairly easily. The material is just so affecting. I was moved the first time I read it and I’m sure the audience will be moved too. The challenge is to get the audience to care about the actual characters, rather than only being moved because of general feelings of sadness at the great losses of the war. The point is that the play follows personal journeys.”

Did you read any other First World War Literature as part of your preparation?

Ben: “The poems of Woodbine Willy, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon have been a great help.”

Leo: “I’ve been focusing primarily on the poetry and Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves. This is a very moving account and I would recommend it to anyone.”

Robin: “I’ve kept my reading mostly factual. The most useful things to read are the personal accounts of people who really lived through it, and this has included some poetry – notably that of Sassoon and Owen.”

Kevin: “I’m reading Robert Graves’s Goodbye to All That and that has really helped to anchor to a personal account, especially as his family origins lie in Limerick City in Ireland, where I am from originally, so the journey from there to the First World War has a definite track to follow. I have also read a lot of poetry from Siegfried Sassoon to W B Yeats, which I feel has the most condensed emotional content because there is a rapidity and honesty to writing a poem in-situ as opposed to a patient recollection given afterwards.”

Do you think that Sherriff’s first-hand experience makes the play more realistic and does this make a difference?

Leo: “I think the play wouldn’t be the great piece of work it is, had Sherriff not been there himself. His account makes this work all the more moving.”

Kevin: “I think his presence in the actual War makes it a great piece of writing in terms of the dynamic of emotions. He has a deft touch in relation to deriving humour from his characters and his knowledge of military lingo makes his words a joy to speak.”

How would you describe Sherriff’s perspective of the war?

Ben: “Bleak, humourous, tragic, desperate and pointless.”

Leo: “Sherriff, I feel, doesn’t leave us with an obvious perspective of what he felt the war was for him. However, more movingly, he gives a shared account of how it touched each individual. This is apparent in the different journey that each character takes. Sherriff gives us a much bigger picture of the soldier in the front line.”

Kevin: “I think he captures the futility and the mundanity very well. The boredom was a surprise for me to discover. For example, the silence is unnerving for Raleigh at first, but like everyone else, he befriends the silence and the situation.”

Do you think it is important that students should be able to see a live production of Journey’s End?

Leo: “I think it’s imperative that students should see a live account or glimpse into the lives these men had. This was such a significant part of our history, that hopefully will never come to pass again. At the end of the day, plays like this are meant to be seen…”

Kevin: “A play is written to be seen. Period!”

Robin: “Students should always see the play they are studying if possible, otherwise it’s so difficult for them to understand how the text lifts off the page for the performance…. Yes, people with a passion for literature may enjoy reading and analysing the play as a piece of writing, but we must never forget that playwrights write plays to be performed… If Journey’s End was meant to convey its full meaning to a reader, it would be a novel. Being a play, it doesn’t contain much of the descriptive element of a novel, leaving the actors and director responsible for completing the picture.”

And… the last word goes to Ben, who played Stanhope, and had the following to say: “It’s very important that as many students as possible see this play to keep alive the horrific history that we can only revisit… How else will we remember?”

During our visit to Esher, we decided to stop for lunch at the Wheatsheaf on the Green.

Overlooking the green, on which the war memorial stands, this was a surprisingly quiet spot to enjoy lunch, away from the bustle of the High Street. We were lucky with the weather and it was warm enough to sit outside and watch the world go by.

The staff were extremely attentive and welcoming, even though this was a fairly busy lunchtime. One of their specialities was a large array of burgers, which were too good to miss. My personal choice was the ‘Wheatsheaf’ Burger, which came with just about everything, while my husband chose a Barbecue Burger which he thoroughly enjoyed. Everything was well cooked and arrived promptly.

As I was driving, I did not indulge in any alcohol, but my husband was particularly taken with the T.E.A. – Traditional English Ale – evidently a flavoursome pint!

Anyone choosing to visit Esher and finding themselves in need of welcoming refreshment, should definitely pay The Wheatsheaf a visit.

The war memorial at Esher in Surrey, stands on the Green near to Christ Church, a Victorian Gothic building whose tall spire dominates the surroundings.

It takes the form of a simple stone cross, mounted on an octagonal tapering column. This stands on an octagonal plinth, which bears the names and inscriptions of the local men who gave their lives during both World Wars.

The names of sixty-nine First World War combatants are inscribed on bronze plaques on four alternate sides of the plinth and among them are six surnames which appear more than once, suggesting that some local families lost more than one member during the conflict.

The fallen of the Second World War have their names inscribed onto the plinth itself.

Esher and R C Sherriff
(1894-1975)

Esher is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, approximately 14 miles south-west of London, best known perhaps as the home of Sandown Race Course, although other local places of interest include Wayneflete Tower and Claremont House and Gardens. Dating back to the early eighteenth century Claremont House is now the home of Claremont Fan Court School, but it was once a royal residence and a particular favourite of Queen Victoria and her family. During the First World War, the building was used as a hospital for wounded officers.

R C Sherriff spent a great deal of his life in Esher, living in his beloved house, Rosebriars. During this time he became a somewhat reluctant local celebrity, although hampered by extreme shyness and nerves. He took a keen interest in the arts and harboured hopes that, upon his death, his home and its six acres of grounds, would be turned into an art centre. Unfortunately, this was not to be, although the property was sold and the money raised was used to create the Rosebriars Trust. This is a charitable organisation with the aim of advancing and developing the arts of the Borough of Elmbridge.

This account of R C Sherriff’s activities in the First World War, is based upon the numerous letters which he sent to his mother during his training and service on the Western Front, as well as official military records. For reasons of censorship, once Sherriff had embarked for France, he gave no details as to his whereabouts. However, during his time on the Western Front his Battalion was present at Vimy Ridge during April 1917, when they fought alongside Canadian troops; Messines Ridge in June 1917 and the Battle of Pilckem, beginning on 31st July 1917, which was the first phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The fact that the 9th East Surrey’s were in these areas does not mean that Sherriff was necessarily directly involved in the battles themselves, since his Company may have been in reserve at the time. Those studying his play, Journey’s End, should be able to see some similarities between the characters he created and his own experiences during the conflict.

On November 20th 1915, Robert Cedric Sherriff left his employment as an insurance official at Messrs Cot & Co., in Charing Cross, London, to enlist in the Artists Rifles, which was essentially an Officer Training Corps. Once commissioned, officers who had trained with the Artists Rifles would then be posted to various regiments throughout the army. Among those who took this route into the armed forces during the First World War, were Wilfred Owen, Edward Thomas and the artists Paul and John Nash.

Sherriff’s field training took place at Hare Hall, Gidea Park, near Romford in Essex, where he arrived in late December 1915. In his spare time, he wrote letters home, read books and went on solitary walks. He was a man who enjoyed his own company and was sometimes reluctant to mix with others at social gatherings, such as the concerts and dinners which were held at the training camp. Sherriff’s mother would also visit him on most Sundays and they would take long walks together and, sometimes, enjoy a picnic.

His training complete, on September 5th 1916, Sherriff was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and was sent to the 3rd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment at Grand Shaft Barracks in Dover. Here, he awaited his orders to embark for France, although he found the delays and false rumours so frustrating, that he contemplated writing a book ‘to while away the time’.

Eventually his orders came through and, following a smooth channel crossing, he arrived in France to join the 9th Battalion of the East Surrey’s, at 2pm on Thursday 28th September. Within four days, he was in the reserve lines, awaiting orders to move up to the front and was placed in charge of a platoon of approximately 25 men. He shared a dugout with other officers, which he found relatively comfortable and, although the rats running across his body at night disturbed his sleep, he was grateful to not be suffering with lice.

During the night of 8th-9th October, Sherriff was sent into the front line for the first time. He went alone, as his commanding officer believed that all new subalterns should have at least some experience of the front line prior to taking in their men. He arrived at dusk and found the other officers in the dugout welcoming. He then accompanied the Captain on his rounds and found that the confidence of the senior officer made him feel less nervous himself.

With this experience under his belt, Sherriff took his own men into the front line on 11th October. While there, he spent two hours on duty during the day and three hours at night, spending the remaining time in the dugout. As such, Sherriff did not seem to find these tours of duty too onerous. However, after just four days in the front line, with four more to go before he would be back in reserve again, his letters show that he was beginning to feel the strain. He was not afraid of dying, but he found the boredom and waiting depressing. He stated that he felt there was ‘no glory or heroism in war now’ and he longed to be able to fight on open ground, rather than in the trenches.

Despite his frustrations and growing nervousness, Sherriff still found time to appreciate his surroundings. He described, in one letter, the ‘clear’ valley below the trench, which he knew had once been beautiful, but which had become wrecked by the war. Also he occasionally found solitary flowers growing in the walls of the trenches and sent them home to his mother.

During November and December, he was sent to learn tunnelling methods from the Royal Engineers. This was a particularly happy time for Sherriff and he would later apply, unsuccessfully, for a transfer to that section. Upon his return to his own Regiment, he was disappointed to learn that he would have to remain in France for a minimum of six months before he would be allowed any leave. This was a much longer period of time than he had anticipated, so he made a chart upon which he could count off the days until he would be able to look forward to going home.

January 1917 found him back in the trenches again, although no matter where he was, he received frequent letters from home and parcels containing cakes, chocolate, fruit and a particular favourite Veda Bread (a malted loaf, which originally comes from Scotland, but is now mainly sold in Northern Ireland). Following his training with the Royal Engineers, Sherriff was given the task, when out of the front lines, of training the men to build dugouts, although the hard snow on the ground made his task more difficult.

Towards the end of the month, he became unwell, suffering from neuralgia around his left eye. He believed at the time, that this might be due to a toothache, but the whole experience left him feeling ‘nervy’. He also felt guilty about going sick, as he knew it would mean more work for the other officers, whom he had become ‘proud’ to call his friends. Despite these concerns, on January 26th he was transferred to an Officer’s Rest Station behind the lines, where there was a dentist who could examine and treat his toothache.

Throughout his stay at the Rest Station, he worried about his own state of mind, becoming concerned about his fear of going up to the front line again, to the point where on February 1st, he began to believe that he would rather resign his commission than face going back. However, these fears seem to have abated and, at the end of the month, he was back with his men and marching up towards the front lines.

For the remainder of the spring and summer, Sherriff continued with this routine of time in the trenches, followed by a spell in reserve. However, he also enjoyed intermittent periods spent ‘a long way back from the line’ training recruits. During these times he was often billeted at a ‘very nice farm’, which made him feel much more at home, since the surroundings reminded him of the English countryside.

In mid-April, he was once again troubled by his neuralgia and decided to see the doctor, who told him that his ‘nerves were out of order’. Sherriff did not necessarily agree with this diagnosis, or with the tablets which he was prescribed. Instead, he believed that all he needed was a ‘real rest for a fortnight or so’ in order to feel better. Within a week, he was on the mend again, and returned to his men who were now resting in a ‘quiet country village’ a long way behind the lines. Here they remained until the middle of May, when their next spell in the front lines began.

It was the beginning of June before they saw a rest camp again. The timing of this at least enabled Sherriff to spend his 21st birthday away from the front lines and, finally, at the end of the month, came the long-awaited leave. Ten days at home provided him with a great rest-cure and lots of happy memories of country walks and picnics to take back to France with him on 4th July.

Over the following weeks, Sherriff’s men went in and out of the lines several times, returning there on 31st July for the commencement of the Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele. On August 2nd, he was wounded in the right hand and on the right side of his face. He wrote immediately – although with some difficulty – to his mother, to reassure her that he was not seriously injured.

Although his wounds seemed slight, they were enough to earn Sherriff a ‘blighty’ (a slang term for a wound which was serious enough to require repatriation for a period of time, but not so grave as to maim or kill). By mid-August, he was settled in a hospital at Netley in Hampshire, although he was almost better by this time and was expecting his Medical Board to declare him fit, thus allowing him three weeks leave at home before returning to his Regiment.

By mid-September, however, his neuralgia had flared up again and he was sent to St Thomas’s Hospital in London. From there, once fit, he was sent to Dover and spent the following months training new recruits and officers, while waiting to be pronounced fit for General Service Overseas. In March of 1918, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. During the summer, he was once again ill, this time suffering from influenza. Sherriff, although promoted to the rank of Captain in January 1919, did not return to the Western Front and following his discharge from the army, returned to his job as an Insurance Official.