First World War Poetry Digital Archive

Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) Chronology

Year Date Activity
1893 18 March Born at Plas Wilmot, Oswestry, son of Tom and Susan Owen
1895 30 May Birth of his sister, Mary
1897 5 September Birth of his brother, Harold Owen. Family moves to Birkenhead
1900 11 June Starts school at Birkenhead Institute
24 July Birth of his brother, Colin
1906 Family moves to Shrewsbury. Owen starts at Shrewsbury Technical School
1911 Works as a pupil-teacher at the Wyle Cop School, Shrewsbury.
9 September Takes matriculation exam at the University of London
20 October Starts as lay assistant at Dunsden, near Reading
1913 7 February Leaves Dunsden and returns to Shrewsbury
15 September Goes to Bordeaux to teach English at Berlitz school.
1914 31 July Becomes tutor to Mme Leger
1915 18 May Returns to England and Shrewsbury.
21 October Enlists in Artists' Rifles
15 November Moves to Hare Hill Camp, Gidea Park, Essex. Rank is Cadet
1916 5 March Goes to Officer's School, Balgores House, Gidea Park
4 June Commissioned into Manchester Regiment
18 June Reports to 5th (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment
September Applies for transfer to Royal Flying Corps but fails to gain entrance
29 December Embarks for France and Étaples
1917 1–2 January Joins 2nd Manchesters on the Somme, near Beaumont Hamel
6 January Moves to front
9–16 January Holds dug-out in no-man's land
20 January In front-line again, platoon exposed to severe frost- bite
14/15 March Suffers concussion from a fall at Le Quesnoy-en-Santerre, evacuated to military hospital
4 April Rejoins battalion at Selency
2 May Evacuated suffering from shell-shock
26 June Arrives at Craglockhart War Hospital, Edinburgh
17 July Contributes to, and becomes editor of The Hydra
17 August(?) Introduces himself to Siegfried Sassoon (fellow patient)
13 October Sassoon introduces him to Robert Graves
28 October Appears before Medical Board; 3 weeks leave before returning to unit
9 Nov Meets Arnold Bennett and H. G. Wells
24 November Joins 5th Manchesters at Scarborough
1918 26 January 'Miners' published in The Nation
12 March Posted to Ripon
4 June Graded fit for service
5 June Rejoins 5th Manchesters at Scarborough
15 June 'Hospital Barge' and 'Futility' published in The Nation
31 August Returns to France and Étaples
9 September Moves to Amiens
29 September – 3 October Partakes in the assault on Beaurevoir-Fonsomme line. Awarded M.C.
5 October Battalion rests at Hancourt
30–31 October Battalion takes over line west of Oise-Sambre canal, near Ors
4 November Killed during attack across the canal
11 November News of death reaches Shrewsbury. Armistice signed

Chronology by: , 1997