Soldier and Dramatist: The Letters of Harold Chapin American Citizen Who Died for England at Loos on September 26th, 1915

Brought to London at the age of three by his mother following a divorce, Chapin attended North London Collegiate School, Norwich grammar school,and University College School, London (1901-2). On September 2nd 1914, he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. From the moment he joined,as is evident from his early letters, he threw all his enthusiasm, strength and power of concentration into the new task, enduring the unaccustomed hardships with a cheery good nature which made him immensely popular with his comrades. He embarked to the Western Front in March 1915 as a stretcher-bearer with the 1st/6th Field Ambulance unit soon sharing the views of General Douglas Haig that the conflict could only be won by war of attrition writing; ''If you at home could only see and hear the enormous concentration of force necessary to take a mile of German trench; the terrific resistance we have to put up to hold it - there''d be some hope of you all bucking in and supplying the little extra force that we need to end this murderous, back and forth business.''He was killed collecting the wounded during the Battle of Loos on September 26th 1915.Contains Introductory materials by the journalist Sidney Dark and critic William Archer.''With the single exception of Rupert Brooke, no English-speaking man of more unquestionable genius has been lost to the world in this worldfrenzy.'' William Archer See more