Record Number: 33058
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I received a commission within six months [of the declaration of war] and was posted to a battalion of the Green Howards, my local North Riding regiment, then training in Dorset ... It happened that a considerable group [of the officers] in my particular battalion came from Eton ... and practically all the others were from public schools. I had, therefore, stumbled into a very select and at first very uncongenial coterie. It must be remembered that I had not hitherto been outside my provincial fastness; but it was not so much my rawness ... as my incredible naivete which was at fault ... I had become a regular reader of the New Age, at that time the most independent and lively periodical being published. The officers' mess occupied a building ordinarily used by the local masonic lodge, and there we had an ante-room where all the usual magazines and newspapers were available. They were displayed on a green-baize table, and there, when I had read it, I left my copy of the New Age. I was seated deep in an armchair one afternoon when the senior subaltern, traditionally responsible for the social conduct of the junior subalterns, came up to the table and casually picked up the New Age. He looked at it for a minute or two and slowly the colour deepened in his ... face. He turned suddenly to address the room, and ... shouted in a loud voice: "Who brought this bloody rag into the mess?" ... I shrank still deeper into my chair and watched the angry senior subaltern stalk out in disgust, throwing the offensive periodical into the waste-paper basket as he passed. I had learned my lesson, and in the future read the New Age in the privacy of my tent or cubicle.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Feb 1915 and 31 May 1915
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: Wareham
county: Dorset
other location: Wareham Camp
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:4 Dec 1893
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Second Lieutenant, Yorkshire Regiment
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:The New Age
Genre:Politics
Form of Text:Print: Serial / periodical
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:33058
Source:Herbert Read
Editor:n/a
Title:The Contrary Experience: Autobiographies
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1963
Vol:n/a
Page:210-11
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Herbert Read, The Contrary Experience: Autobiographies, (London, 1963), p. 210-11, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33058, accessed: 26 September 2024
Additional Comments:
None