Williamson Anne - The A patriots progress: Henry Williamson and the First World War

A Patriots Progress

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Henry Williamson and the

First World War

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H.W. was a soldier 2 months later; in France 5 months later. And Finish, Finish, Finish the hope and illusion of youth, for ever and for ever and for ever.

(Written in later life at the end of Henry Williamsons childhood Nature Diary which ended with his first visit to Georgeham, North Devon, in May 1914.)

This is believed to be the original drawing for C.R.W. Nevinsons oil painting entitled Group of Soldiers. The drawing bears the inscription To H. Williamson and is signed C.R.W. Nevinson, 1917. The soldier facing the front looks remarkably like Henry Williamson. Staining round the edges was sustained when Henry Williamson tried to soak the work off its mount in the 1960s so that it could be used on the back cover of his novel A Test to Destruction. (Drawing copyright Mrs Anne Patterson)

A Patriots Progress

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Henry Williamson and the

First World War

Anne Williamson

First published in the United Kingdom in 1998 by Sutton Publishing Limited

The History Press
The Mill, Brimscombe Port
Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG
www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved
Anne Williamson, 1998, 2013

Henry Williamsons writings copyright The Henry Williamson Literary Estate, 1998

The right of Anne Williamson to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 9528 6

Original typesetting by The History Press

Dedicated to all who took part in the First World War

Lost for ever in Ancient Sunlight, which arises again as Truth

(Henry Williamson, The Wet Flanders Plain , The Valley of the Ancre)

Henry Williamson never forgot.

We will remember

List of Plates

Between pages 48 and 49

Between pages 144 and 145

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the efforts of Brian Dolan of the Henry Williamson Society, who undertook the arduous task of being my research assistant, almost involuntarily, as the original question I referred to him grew into what he must often have felt to be an unending and at times turbulent stream.

Brian has worked patiently through the many obscure and difficult points I have thrown at him, not only diligently but also with the greatest of good humour, which has frequently saved my sanity if not literally then certainly metaphorically! His letters full of amusing asides have been highlights in the difficult task of putting this book together and I am grateful to him beyond measure. I certainly would not have been able to finish the work within the publishers deadline without the input of his expertise and time and there are many details that would not have been clarified. A great deal of research never shows in the final product: only the tip of the iceberg is seen, but to see this small percentage an enormous amount of legwork has to be done.