Robert Ernest Vernède (1875 – 9 April 1917) was an English poet and writer, now remembered as a

war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...

. He was born in London, and educated at St Paul's School (where he was a friend of

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "W ...

and

E. C. Bentley Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 – 30 March 1956), who generally published under the names E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley, was a popular English novelist and humorist, and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse ...

), and at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...

. After graduating, he wrote novels and short stories. He enlisted with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the 3rd Batt.

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifl ...

in 1914, at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, although over the maximum age of service. He served in France, where he was wounded in 1916 in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. He was received at

Somerville Hospital ''This is about the hospital, for the mental hospital see Somerville Asylum.'' The CHA Somerville Campus is an outpatient medical center at 33 Tower Street in Somerville, Massachusetts - near Porter Square and Davis Square. It is operated by Cam ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. He returned to the front, but died after being wounded by machine gun fire while leading an advance at

Havrincourt Havrincourt () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in Hauts-de-France in France. The inhabitants are called ''Havrincourtois''. Situation The village lies about 14 kilometres south-west of Cambrai near the Havrincourt service area on t ...

. He was buried at Le Bucquiere Communal Cemetery Extension. Chesterton wrote an appreciation of Vernède for the school magazine, describing his death as "so heavy a loss for those of us who loved him" and called it "an addition or completion to that shining company of poets whose patriotism turned them into soldiers, and gave them a life and death more worthy of legend". His ''War Poems, And Other Verses'' was published in 1917 by William Heinemann.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernede, R.E. 1875 births 1917 deaths People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of St John's College, Oxford 20th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I English World War I poets Rifle Brigade officers English male poets English male novelists 20th-century English male writers

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