|
|
|
|
         |
|
While writing a book, which was to be called The British Campaign in France and Flanders, the author was given permission to visit the British and French fronts in 1916. A while later, the Australian High Command invited him to observe their position on the river Somme. Witnessing the Battle of St. Quentin made Conan Doyle say he would never be able to forget the horrors of the "tangle of mutilated horses, their necks rising and sinking," lying amidst the blood soaked remains of fallen soldiers. 
In late 1914, the author made-up for the lackluster reception of his second Sherlock Holmes novel, with the publication of His Last Bow. In this tale, Sherlock Holmes infiltrates and vanquishes a German spy-ring, a timely war propaganda story. Two years later, Conan Doyle's acute sense of justice was awakened again and made him rise to the defense of Sir Roger Casement, an Irish diplomat accused of being "the foulest traitor who ever drew breath." Conan Doyle had known and liked the diplomat several years before, as the man had alerted him to awful injustices committed against blacks in the Congo. The author had even based the character of Lord John Roxton in The Lost World on Casement. Now, the "traitor" was found guilty of having tried to get Germany's support for the Irish independence movement. Conan Doyle almost succeeded in sparing the convicted man's life, on grounds of insanity, had it not been for the discovery of Casement's diary. It chronicled in detail his homosexuality, which at the time was also a criminal offense. Conan Doyle's feelings about homosexuality were more liberal than the norm, which may have been the reason why, he later was not elevated to sit in the House of Lords. The toll of the war was cruel on Conan Doyle. He lost his son Kingsley, his brother, his two brothers-in-law and his two nephews. Continued...  Back to Biography page 1 |
|
  |
|
 |