Soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his "Soldier's Declaration" of 1917, culminating in his admission to a military psychiatric hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him.

Siegfried Sassoon was perhaps the most innocent of the war poets. John Hildebidle has called Sassoon the "accidental hero." Born into a wealthy Jewish family in 1886, Sassoon lived the pastoral life of a young squire: fox-hunting, playing cricket, golfing and writing romantic verses. Being an innocent, Sassoon`s reaction to the realities of the war were all the more bitter and violent -- both his reaction through his poetry and his reaction on the battlefield (where, after the death of fellow officer David Thomas and his brother Hamo at Gallipoli, Sassoon earned the nickname "Mad Jack" for his near-suicidal exploits against the German lines -- in the early manifestation of his grief, when he still believed that the Germans were entirely to blame). As Paul Fussell said: "now he unleashed a talent for irony and satire and contumely that had been sleeping all during his pastoral youth." Sassoon also showed his innocence by going public with his protest against the war (as he grew to see that insensitive political leadership was the greater enemy than the Germans). Luckily, his friend and fellow poet Robert Graves convinced the review board that Sassoon was suffering from shell-shock and he was sent instead to the military hospital at Craiglockhart where he met and influenced Wilfred Owen.

Sassoon is a key figure in the study of the poetry of the Great War: he brought with him to the war the idyllic pastoral background; he began by writing war poetry reminiscent of Rupert Brooke; he mingled with such war poets as Robert Graves and Edmund Blunden; he spoke out publicly against the war (and yet returned to it); he influenced and mentored the then unknown Wilfred Owen; he spent thirty years reflecting on the war through his memoirs; and at last he found peace in his religious faith. Some critics found his later poetry lacking in comparison to his war poems. Sassoon, identifying with Herbert and Vaughan, recognized and understood this: "my development has been entirely consistent and in character" he answered, "almost all of them have ignored the fact that I am a religious poet." 

SIEGFRIED SASSOON`S STATEMENT

`I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.

I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow-soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.

I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong those sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.

I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.

On behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practiced on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacency with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realise.`

Image source: liv-coll.ac.uk

Further Information:

War poet`s medal to go on display

A bravery medal awarded to one of Britain`s most famous war poets is to go on display at a military museum.

Siegfried Sassoon`s Miltary Cross, which was found on the Scottish island of Mull 90 years after it went missing, was due to be auctioned.

But a private agreement has ensured the medal will not leave Britain or become part of a private collection.

The World War I medal is to go on show at the Royal Welsh Fusiliers` museum at Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd.

Military Cross

It will be part of a new display of artifacts from artists and poets who served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

The private deal has been struck to sell the medal jointly to the museum trust and the poet`s grand-daughter, Kendall Sassoon, and her family.

It will be displayed along with memorabilia of artists including Robert Graves and David Jones.

Major General Jon Riley, chairman of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Museum Trust, said: "Siegfried Sassoon and his contemporaries are a cherished part of our regimental family, and we take enormous pride in keeping their memory fresh."

The family of Siegfried Sassoon believed he had hurled his Military Cross into the River Mersey in protest over the war.

But the medal was found 90 years later at Benbuie Lodge on Mull.

The item, along with Sassoon`s identification tag, had been expected to raise up to £25,000 at auction.

His Webley revolver, which was also found in the attic, has been given to the Imperial War Museum.

Sassoon achieved renown for his vehement criticism of the war and was acclaimed as a writer of satirical anti-war verse.

His medal was discovered by Robert Pulvertaft, whose stepfather George was Sassoon`s son.

Mr Pulvertaft was clearing out the attic when he came across the award.

Sassoon, who was known as "Mad Jack" for his acts of bravery, won the Military Cross for bringing in wounded and dying comrades lying close to German lines in 1916.

Famous soldier

He returned to Britain in April 1917 after being wounded and became increasingly disillusioned with the war. He later refused to return to duty.

Rather than court martial a national hero, the army sent Sassoon to Craiglockhart Hospital near Edinburgh to be treated for shell-shock.

The same year he was thought to have hurled the medal into the Mersey in a "paroxysm of exasperation".

But it was only its ribbon that he had sent floating away on the river.

After the war Sassoon wrote six volumes of autobiography. He was awarded the Queen`s Medal for Poetry in 1957.