Rudyard Kipling: Difference between revisions

Kipling was so closely associated with the expansive, confident attitude of late 19th century European civilization that it was inevitable that his reputation would suffer in the years of and after World War I.  Kipling also knew personal tragedy at the time as his only son, John Kipling, died in 1915 at the [[Battle of Loos]], after which he wrote "If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied" (Kipling's son's death inspired his poem, "[[My Boy Jack (poem)|My Boy Jack]]", and the incident became the basis for the play ''[[My Boy Jack (play)|My Boy Jack]]'' and its subsequent [[My Boy Jack (film)|television adaptation]], along with the documentary ''[[Rudyard Kipling: A Remembrance Tale]]''.) It is speculated that these words may reveal Kipling's feelings of guilt at his role in getting John a commission in the [[Irish Guards]], despite his initially having been rejected by the army because of his poor eyesight, and his having exerted great influence to have his son accepted for officer training at the age of only 17.<ref>Webb, George. Foreword to: Kipling, Rudyard. ''The Irish Guards in the Great War''. 2 vols. (Spellmount, 1997), p. 9.</ref>

Partly in response to this tragedy, Kipling joined Sir [[Fabian Ware]]'s Imperial War Graves Commission (now the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]), the group responsible for the garden-like British war graves that can be found to this day dotted along the former [[Western Front]] and all the other locations around the world where Commonwealth troops lie buried. His most significant contribution to the project was his selection of the biblical phrase "Their Name Liveth For Evermore" found on the Stones of Remembrance in larger war graves and his suggestion of the phrase "Known unto God" for the gravestones of unidentified servicemen. He also wrote a two-volume history of the [[Irish Guards]], his son's regiment, that was published in 1923 and is considered to be one of the finest examples of regimental history.<ref>Kipling, Rudyard. The ''Irish Guards in the Great War''. 2 vols. (London, 1923)</ref> Kipling's moving short story, "The Gardener", depicts visits to the war cemeteries. With the increasing popularity of the automobile, Kipling became a motoring correspondent for the British press, and wrote enthusiastically of his trips around England and abroad, even though he was usually driven by a chauffeur.