Wilf Owen

• He began writing poetry as a teenager
• At around 18 years of age Owen became an unpaid lay assistant to a Church of England vicar in Oxfordshire. He assisted with the care of the poor and sick in the parish. It was during this time that he lost faith in the church to support people in need. This is a theme running through Anthem for Doomed Youth as he shows his disillusionment at religion and the associated ceremonies.
• Owen had first-hand experience of the horrors of war and life in the trenches. After surviving heavy fighting, he was diagnosed with shellshock - the term used then to describe what is now referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder. He was evacuated to England and arrived at Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh in June 1917.
• Here he met the poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose work Owen admired very much. The two became friends, and with Sassoon’s influence and encouragement Owen developed into a confident talented poet.

  Anthem for Doomed Youth was written in 1917 while Owen was at Craiglockhart. A handwritten draft of the poem survives on which Owen has written, “With Sassoon’s amendments”. The title of the poem was Sassoon’s suggestion. Owen returned to France in August 1918 and in October was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
• He was killed on 4 November 1918 while attempting to lead his men across the Sambre canal at Ors. The news of his death reached his parents on 11 November, Armistice Day, when the world was celebrating the end of the war.