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Born into
an aristocratic family, Grenfell was educated at Eton and
Balliol College, Oxford. Although he would have preferred
a different career, he curbed his rebellious nature and fulfilled
family expectations by joining the army in 1910. He was commissioned
as a subaltern into a cavalry regiment, the Royal Dragoons,
with which he served in India and South Africa. The regiment
was sent to fight in France and Belgium eight weeks after
war broke out. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
for his bravery in November 1914 and was twice mentioned in
despatches.
In the
spring of 1915 his regiment reinforced the infantry during
the Second Battle of Ypres. On 12 May 1915, two weeks after
writing what has become his best-known poem, 'Into Battle',
a shell exploded close to him and a splinter from it lodged
in his skull. He died twelve days later in a French hospital.
FirstWorldWar.com
- Julian Grenfell
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