Patrick was
educated at Eton College before winning a Classical Scholarship to study at
Balliol College, Oxford where one of his contemporaries was Julian Grenfell.
In London to
work at Barings Bank, Patrick joined the Coterie poetry group. The Coterie was a select group of Edwardian artists
and intellectuals with members such as Diana Manners (Lady Diana Cooper) and
Raymond Asquith.
In America
for business reasons in August 1914, Patrick returned to Britain and volunteered to
join Winston Churchill’s recently created Royal Naval Division. He was sent to Dunkirk, initially as an
interpreter, then as Embarkation Officer.
He was then sent to “Hood Battalion”, where Rupert Brooke was a fellow
officer. When Rupert Brooke died and was
buried on the Island of Skyros en route for Gallipoli, Patrick was in charge of
the firing party at Rupert's funeral.
After
service in the Gallipoli Campaign, Patrick was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant-Commander and posted to the Western Front in France in command of
the Hood Battalion. He was killed in an area to the north of Cambrai on 30th
December 1917. He was buried at Metz-en-Couture in the British Extension to the
Communal Cemetery. There is a memorial
to the memory of Patrick Shaw-Stewart at Balliiol College Oxford, on the west
wall of the Chapel passage.
Patrick was
awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour – Croix de Guerre (France) for
his services as a Liaison Officer with the French Headquarters. His most famous poem is “Achilles in the
Trench”, which was included in three WW1 anthologies.
Sources: Wikipedia, Catherine W. Reilly “English
Poetry of the First World War A Bibliography” (St. Martin’s Press, New York,
1978) and Anne Powell “A Deep Cry” (Palladour Books, Dyfed, 1993)
From "Achilles in the Trench"
Fair broke the day this morning
Upon the Dardanelles:
The breeze blew soft, the morn's cheeks
Were cold as cold sea-shells.
Published in "Vain Glory: a miscellany of the Great War", Cassell, London, 1937.
