Publications
Journal of the Great War. From Sussex Shore to Flanders Fields, by Edward Heron-Allen and edited by Brian W. Harvey and Carol Fitzgerald, published 2002 (vol. 86, xxii + 282 pp., Sussex Record Society, ISBN-10: 085445053X & ISBN-13: 9780854450534) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15043] & The Keep [LIB/500463][Lib/507867] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
Abstract:Edward Heron-Allen was a polymath; one of the most remarkable of his era. By profession a solicitor, he was also a distinguished zoologist (F.R.S.), historian, Persian scholar and translator, author of a classic book on violin-making studied worldwide, cheirosopher and writer of early science-fiction novels and stories, some of these being published pseudonymously and now much sought after. He left many beautifully bound unpublished manuscript volumes (carefully preserved by a grandson) and it was amongst these that the editors came across this fascinating Journal of the Great War, previously unknown outside the family.
In this personal Journal Heron-Allen chronicles the impact of the War on the lives of himself, his family in Selsey, West Sussex and on a wide range of friends, acquaintances and organisations nationally. With the observant and penetrating eye of an experienced author, lawyer and scientist, he describes in unsurpassed detail the day-to-day experiences of life under the increasingly stringent conditions of wartime Britain. He depicts the effects of conscription, spy scares and Zeppelin raids on the population, both in Sussex and in London, where he retained a town house.
Although well over age, he was determined to contribute actively to the war effort and the Journal recounts his military training with the Sussex Volunteer Regiment - a somewhat 'Dad's Army' process depicted with a touch of humour - then officer training in Tunbridge Wells. However, the final stages of the War find him making use of his linguistic abilities in the propaganda department of the War Office, working with colleagues who included the uncongenial H.G. Wells. As part of this work he visited the Western Front and saw for himself the terrible destruction of places he had known before the conflict. All of this is interwoven with his vivid account of the privations and near social breakdown of the local Sussex community.
In his unusually lively and controversial text, Heron-Allen does not disguise his criticism of a good many of the well-known characters he encounters - such as the novelist Ford Madox Ford, his tenant at Selsey. The importance of this previously unpublished Chronicle is, though, that it casts an exceptionally civilised and perceptive eye on the Home Front - and especially the Sussex Home Front, illuminating one of the defining moments of the 20th century and the irrevocable changes that the Great War inflicted on the structure of English life.
In this personal Journal Heron-Allen chronicles the impact of the War on the lives of himself, his family in Selsey, West Sussex and on a wide range of friends, acquaintances and organisations nationally. With the observant and penetrating eye of an experienced author, lawyer and scientist, he describes in unsurpassed detail the day-to-day experiences of life under the increasingly stringent conditions of wartime Britain. He depicts the effects of conscription, spy scares and Zeppelin raids on the population, both in Sussex and in London, where he retained a town house.
Although well over age, he was determined to contribute actively to the war effort and the Journal recounts his military training with the Sussex Volunteer Regiment - a somewhat 'Dad's Army' process depicted with a touch of humour - then officer training in Tunbridge Wells. However, the final stages of the War find him making use of his linguistic abilities in the propaganda department of the War Office, working with colleagues who included the uncongenial H.G. Wells. As part of this work he visited the Western Front and saw for himself the terrible destruction of places he had known before the conflict. All of this is interwoven with his vivid account of the privations and near social breakdown of the local Sussex community.
In his unusually lively and controversial text, Heron-Allen does not disguise his criticism of a good many of the well-known characters he encounters - such as the novelist Ford Madox Ford, his tenant at Selsey. The importance of this previously unpublished Chronicle is, though, that it casts an exceptionally civilised and perceptive eye on the Home Front - and especially the Sussex Home Front, illuminating one of the defining moments of the 20th century and the irrevocable changes that the Great War inflicted on the structure of English life.
Journal of the Great War. From Sussex Shore to Flanders Fields, by Edward Heron-Allen and edited by Brian W. Harvey and Carol Fitzgerald, published 2 October 2002 (304 pp., Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., ISBN-10: 1860772005 & ISBN-13: 9781860772009) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
Abstract:Edward Heron-Allen was a solicitor by profession but he was also a distinguished zoologist (F.R.S.), historian, Persian scholar and translator. This is his chronicle of the impact of the First World War on the lives of himself, his family and friends in Selsey and London, his military training with the Sussex Volunteer Regiment and officer training in Tunbridge Wells, and his experiences in the propaganda department of the War Office. He vividly recounts the privations suffered by the local Sussex community and his experiences of the destruction at the Western Front.