Arthur Wesley Wheen
Encyclopedia
Arthur Wesley Wheen MM
& 2 Bars, was an Australia
n who chose to live his adult life in England
. In 1920 he arrived in England on a Rhodes Scholarship
, awarded on the basis of academic excellence and the Military Medal
with two bars which he received in World War I
. After graduating from Oxford, Arthur joined the Victoria and Albert Museum
where he became Keeper of the Library for more than twenty years; meantime also translating the work of Erich Maria Remarque
(notably All Quiet on the Western Front
) and other German writers. He counted among his friends artists and critics such as David Jones
, T. S. Eliot
and Herbert Read
.
There is some speculation that Wheen worked as a spy in World War I, based on his excellence in the German language and his novella, "Two Masters", which may have been autobiographical.
, second son of Harold (Wesleyan Minister) and Clara Wheen.
1910 - Gordon Public School
1911 - 1914 Sydney Boys High School
1915 - Won an Exhibition to Sydney Teachers College
and studied Arts at the University of Sydney
.
(13th/1st Battalion Infantry Brigade)
1915 - December Embarked for Egypt
1916 - February Posted as a Signaller to the 54th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir
1916 - June Posted to France
1916 - July At Petillon - awarded Military Medal
for repairing cut telephone lines and maintaining communications in the midst of enemy artillery barrages "at great personal risk and self sacrifice."
1917 - March At Beaulencourt - awarded first bar to Military Medal."
1917 - September Wounded in action
1918 - January Promoted to Lance Corporal
1918 - April At Villers-Bretonneux awarded second bar to Military Medal, although originally recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal
.
1918 - May Commissioned Second Lieutenant
after attending an Officers' Training Course at Oxford
1918 - August Promoted to Lieutenant
1918 - September Again wounded in action and invalided home
- returned to Sydney University, Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
1920 - July Left Australia
to read Modern History at New College, Oxford
1923 Graduated B.A. (3rd Class Honours)
1923 -24 Shared digs with Frank Morley
— Bedford Place and Effingham
1924 - January Appointed Assistant Librarian V & A Museum, London.
1924 - November Novella "Two Masters" first published in the London Mercury
1926 - December Met Aldwyth Lewers returning on the SS Esperance to England from Australia, where he had visited his family after the death of his father.
1928 - September Travelled to the United States
.
1928 - October Married Aldwyth Lewers at Kensington Registry Office and moved to “Further Pegs” in the village of Jordans, Buckinghamshire.
1929 Translation of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque published
1929 - October Daughter Gretchen born
1931 - Translation of The Road Back
by Erich Maria Remarque
is published
1933 - February Second daughter Aldwyth Elizabeth Wheen (Sally) born
1939 - January Sally died of meningitis
1940 - July Gretchen was sent to family in Australia for the duration of the war.
1945 - Appointed Keeper of the Library, V & A Museum, London
1945 - June Gretchen came back to Jordans
1951 - Gretchen returned to Australia to live
1950 - March Visited Bordeaux and the Dordogne
1954 - October Again visited France
1956 - Studied etching
1960 - March Visited Australia to see his mother who died later that year
1962 - Retired. Declined the 'honour offered' by the Prime Minister; (requested to be 'excused'): “It has been a great honour to have been keeper of the Library, where I have been most happy. I would ask no more.”
1962 - 71 Continued writing (articles for magazines). Became an intermittent potter
. Assisted with farm work at “Further Pegs”. Continued to hold court for the many visitors who came to pay homage and to enjoy his wit and erudition.
1971 - 15 March Arthur died.
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
& 2 Bars, was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n who chose to live his adult life in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 1920 he arrived in England on a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, awarded on the basis of academic excellence and the Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
with two bars which he received in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After graduating from Oxford, Arthur joined the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
where he became Keeper of the Library for more than twenty years; meantime also translating the work of Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...
(notably All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
) and other German writers. He counted among his friends artists and critics such as David Jones
David Jones (poet)
David Jones CH was both a painter and one of the first generation British modernist poets. As a painter he worked chiefly in watercolor, painting portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions. As a writer he was...
, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
and Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
.
There is some speculation that Wheen worked as a spy in World War I, based on his excellence in the German language and his novella, "Two Masters", which may have been autobiographical.
Early life
1897 - Born 9 February at Sunny Corner, New South WalesSunny Corner, New South Wales
Sunny Corner is a small village in the central west of New South Wales, Australia and former mining area located between Lithgow and Bathurst just north of the Great Western Highway...
, second son of Harold (Wesleyan Minister) and Clara Wheen.
1910 - Gordon Public School
1911 - 1914 Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective public secondary school for boys, located in the City of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with 1,180 students, from years 7 to 12...
1915 - Won an Exhibition to Sydney Teachers College
Sydney Teachers College
The Sydney Teachers College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until 1981, when it became a part of the Sydney Institute of Education which in turn joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Sydney in...
and studied Arts at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
World War I
1915 - October Enlisted in the Australian Imperial ForceAustralian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
(13th/1st Battalion Infantry Brigade)
1915 - December Embarked for Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
1916 - February Posted as a Signaller to the 54th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir
1916 - June Posted to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
1916 - July At Petillon - awarded Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
for repairing cut telephone lines and maintaining communications in the midst of enemy artillery barrages "at great personal risk and self sacrifice."
1917 - March At Beaulencourt - awarded first bar to Military Medal."
1917 - September Wounded in action
1918 - January Promoted to Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
1918 - April At Villers-Bretonneux awarded second bar to Military Medal, although originally recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal
Distinguished Conduct Medal
The Distinguished Conduct Medal was an extremely high level award for bravery. It was a second level military decoration awarded to other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.The medal was instituted in 1854, during the Crimean...
.
1918 - May Commissioned Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
after attending an Officers' Training Course at Oxford
1918 - August Promoted to Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
1918 - September Again wounded in action and invalided home
Post-war
1919 - March Arrived SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
- returned to Sydney University, Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
1920 - July Left Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to read Modern History at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
1923 Graduated B.A. (3rd Class Honours)
1923 -24 Shared digs with Frank Morley
Frank Morley
Frank Morley was a leading mathematician, known mostly for his teaching and research in the fields of algebra and geometry...
— Bedford Place and Effingham
1924 - January Appointed Assistant Librarian V & A Museum, London.
1924 - November Novella "Two Masters" first published in the London Mercury
London Mercury
The London Mercury was the name of several periodicals published in London from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The earliest was a newspaper that appeared during the Exclusion Bill crisis; it lasted only 56 issues...
1926 - December Met Aldwyth Lewers returning on the SS Esperance to England from Australia, where he had visited his family after the death of his father.
1928 - September Travelled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
1928 - October Married Aldwyth Lewers at Kensington Registry Office and moved to “Further Pegs” in the village of Jordans, Buckinghamshire.
1929 Translation of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque published
1929 - October Daughter Gretchen born
1931 - Translation of The Road Back
The Road Back
The Road Back is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The novel was first serialized in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung between December 1930 and January 1931, and published in book form in April 1931. It details the experience of young men in Germany who have returned from the...
by Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...
is published
1933 - February Second daughter Aldwyth Elizabeth Wheen (Sally) born
1939 - January Sally died of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
World War II and beyond
1939 Appointed Acting Keeper of the Library, V & A Museum, London1940 - July Gretchen was sent to family in Australia for the duration of the war.
1945 - Appointed Keeper of the Library, V & A Museum, London
1945 - June Gretchen came back to Jordans
1951 - Gretchen returned to Australia to live
1950 - March Visited Bordeaux and the Dordogne
1954 - October Again visited France
1956 - Studied etching
1960 - March Visited Australia to see his mother who died later that year
1962 - Retired. Declined the 'honour offered' by the Prime Minister; (requested to be 'excused'): “It has been a great honour to have been keeper of the Library, where I have been most happy. I would ask no more.”
1962 - 71 Continued writing (articles for magazines). Became an intermittent potter
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
. Assisted with farm work at “Further Pegs”. Continued to hold court for the many visitors who came to pay homage and to enjoy his wit and erudition.
1971 - 15 March Arthur died.