Harold Walter Lawton (27 July 1899 – 24 December 2005,

Greetham, Rutland Greetham is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The village's name means 'homestead/village which is gravelly' or 'hemmed-in land which is gravelly'. The village is on the B668 road between th ...

) was an English scholar of French literature and, prior to his death, one of the last surviving veterans and the last

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in Britain. Born in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, he volunteered for military service in 1916, enlisting with the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

before being transferred to the

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence ...

. Upon completing training, in 1917 he was posted to the Western Front where he was transferred again, to

The East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

. During the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

of 1918 his unit, the 1/4th Battalion the East Yorkshires, was sent to reinforce the line at

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department. Geography Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...

. The Germans used

infiltration tactics In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small independent light infantry forces advancing into enemy rear areas, bypassing enemy frontline strongpoints, possibly isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons. Soldiers ...

, where stormtroopers aimed to infiltrate weak points in defences, bypassing strongly held front line areas. Troops with heavier weapons would then attack the isolated strongpoints. Lawton, with troops from the

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and ...

, did indeed become isolated in a forward trench during the assault; when they ran out of ammunition and food after three days' fighting, they surrendered. He was imprisoned at a

camp at a fort in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and afterwards in

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, Germany. After the war, he completed a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in French at the University of Wales in Bangor, and received a doctorate in Latin and French from the Sorbonne in 1926. He became a lecturer, then a Professor of French at the University College Southampton. He later took the position of Professor of French, and was promoted within the university administration as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro Vice-Chancellor, at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he briefed behind the lines operatives and was listed in The Black Book of key people to be arrested upon a successful Nazi invasion of Britain. He published a ''Handbook of French Renaissance Dramatic Theory'' in 1950, and ''Poems, Selected with Introduction and Notes'' (on the work of

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of '' La Pléiade''. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as a ...

) in 1961. In 1999, Lawton received the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

of the French Republic, honouring his services in the First World War. He died on 24 December 2005 at the age of 106.

References

Selected publications

* ''Vernacular Literature in Western Europe'', in ''

The New Cambridge Modern History ''The New Cambridge Modern History'' replaced the original '' Cambridge Modern History'' in an entirely new project with all new editors and contributors. It was published by Cambridge University Press in fourteen volumes between the 1950s and th ...

'', vol. I, ''The Renaissance, 1493-1520'' (1957)

External links

Obituary of Professor Harold Lawton from ''The Daily Telegraph'', 26 December 2005
*Obituary from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 26 December 2005, page 67 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawton, Harold 1899 births 2005 deaths Military personnel from Stoke-on-Trent Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Southampton British Army personnel of World War I Cheshire Regiment soldiers East Yorkshire Regiment soldiers English men centenarians English literary critics British recipients of the Legion of Honour People from Burslem Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers University of Paris alumni World War I prisoners of war held by Germany People from Rutland