Douglas, Keith, 1920-1944

Keith Castellain Douglas (1920-1944), the war poet and prose writer, was born in Kent, brought up near Cranleigh, Surrey, and educated at Christ's Hospital and Merton College, Oxford, where he edited The Cherwell and wrote stories and poems. At the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered for the army, was trained at Sandhurst and Wickwar, and in 1941 was posted to Palestine. The history of his time in North Africa is told in his memoir Alamein to Zem Zem (1946). He returned to England in 1943 and in 1944 was sent to France. There he was killed in action in Normandy four days after the D-day landings. His Complete poems and a prose miscellany were edited in 1987 and 1985 respectively by Desmond Graham, who had also earlier written his biography, Keith Douglas 1920-1944 (1974).

From the guide to the Literary papers and correspondence of Keith Douglas, with related material, including his paintings and drawings, and Douglas family photographs, 1881-2000, (Leeds University Library)