Arthur Wesley Wheen
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Arthur Wesley Wheen (1896 – 1971), MM & 2 Bars, was an Australian who chose to live his adult life in England. His brilliance as a writer, linguist and historian was matched by his warmth and affection for family and friends[who?], amongst whom were artists and critics such as David Jones, T. S. Eliot and Herbert Read. Arthur’s unassuming manner, reluctance to accept accolades and his gift as a listener endeared him to all who knew him. In 1920 he arrived in England on a Rhodes Scholarship[1], awarded on the basis of academic excellence and the Military Medal with two bars which he received in World War I.[2] 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.
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.[citation needed]
Living in a small village outside London from which he commuted to work, Arthur was above all a husband, father and observer of nature. Although his war injuries and his contemplative, scholarly habits made him unsuited to the role of occasional farm-hand, he assisted his wife Aldwyth with the care of animals and other farm chores. Their partnership, in which exasperation, temperamental differences, respect and attachment created an unusual domestic environment and drew many visitors and admirers to their home[who?]. European refugees, prisoners-of-war and Australian relations stayed for extended periods.[citation needed]
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[edit] Early life
1897 - Born 9 February at Sunny Corner, New South Wales, second son of Harold (Wesleyan Minister) and Clara Wheen.[1]
1910 - Gordon Public School[1]
1911 - 1914 Sydney Boys High School[1]
1915 - Won an Exhibition to Sydney Teachers College and studied Arts at the University of Sydney.[1]
[edit] World War I
1915 - October Enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (13th/1st Battalion Infantry Brigade)[1]
1915 - December Embarked for Egypt[1]
1916 - February Posted as a Signaller to the 54th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir[1]
1916 - June Posted to France[1]
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."[3][1]
1917 - March At Beaulencourt - awarded first bar to Military Medal."[3][1]
1917 - September Wounded in action[1]
1918 - January Promoted to Lance Corporal[1]
1918 - April At Villers-Bretonneux awarded second bar to Military Medal,[3] 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
[edit] Post-war
1919 - March Arrived Sydney - returned to Sydney University, Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship[1]
1920 - July Left Australia to read Modern History at New College, Oxford[1]
1923 Graduated B.A. (3rd Class Honours)[1]
1923 -24 Shared digs with Frank Morley — Bedford Place and Effingham[citation needed]
1924 - January Appointed Assistant Librarian V & A Museum, London.
1924 - November Novella "Two Masters" first published in the London Mercury[1]
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.[1]
1928 - September Travelled to the United States.[citation needed]
1928 - October Married Aldwyth Lewers at Kensington Registry Office and moved to “Further Pegs” in the village of Jordans, Buckinghamshire.[1]
1929 Translation of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque published
1929 - October Daughter Gretchen born
1933 - February Second daughter Aldwyth Elizabeth Wheen (Sally) born
1939 - January Sally died of meningitis[1]
[edit] World War II and beyond
1939 Appointed Acting Keeper of the Library, V & A Museum, London[1]
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[1]
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.”[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
1971 - 15 March Arthur died.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Sally O'Neill. Wheen, Arthur Wesley (1897 - 1971). Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
- ^ Wheen is one of only 15 Australians to have been awarded a second bar to the Military Medal (which represents a third award of the medal)Honours and awards (gazetted). Australian War Memorial Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
- ^ a b c Honours and awards:Arthur Wesley Wheen. Australian War Memorial Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
