

Film and theatre
*Fritz Lang (Austria)- Acclaimed and highly influential Film Director associated with the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s-30s and who later directed films for Hollywood after becoming a US Citizen in 1939. He is best remembered for his Silent era masterpiece Metropolis (1927), the murder-thriller M (1931) and the Film Noir classic The Big Heat (1953).In 1914, Lang was drafted into the Austrian Army and fought in Russia and Romania. He was wounded three times and also suffered severe shell-shock in 1916. He ended the war with the rank of Lieutenant.
Art, Music & Literature
*Egon Schiele (Austria)- Painter of the early Expressionist Movement during the pre-WW1 period. Three days after he got married, Schiele was called up for military duty in June 1915. Deemed to be un-suitable for frontline service, he served as a prison-camp guard for Russian POWs in 1916. In October 1918, Schiele died of Spanish Flu at the age of 28, only three days after the same disease had claimed his wife.
Film and Theatre
*James Whale (UK) - British-born film director who had a successful career in Hollywood helming numerous films, the most famous of which are 'Frankenstein', 'Waterloo Bridge', 'The Man in the Iron Mask' and the big-budget musical 'Showboat'. In the Great War, he served as an officer in the British army with the rank of Second Lieutenant, enlisting in 1915 and seeing considerable action on the Western front. He was captured in August 1917 and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp. Highly traumatized by his wartime experiences, they were a major factor in his eventual suicide by drowning in his Hollywood home in 1957. The recent film "Gods and Monsters", which starred Ian Mackellen and Brendan Fraser, depicted the final months of his life albeit in a semi-fictional sense.
Art, Music & Literature
*Robert Graves (UK) - Writer & poet, author of many works, the most famous being the Roman Historical epic I, Claudius & its sequel Claudius the God.Joining up in 1914, he served in the British Infantry as an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and saw active service on the Western front 1915-16. Badly wounded at the Somme, he spent the rest of the war assigned to duties in Britain. He later wrote his famous war memoirs Goodbye to All That.
Film and theatre
*Maurice Chevalier (France)- Popular and acclaimed actor, singer & entertainer who starred in many hit musicals both on stage and on screen in Europe and the USA, his fame reaching its peak during the 1920s & 30s. In WW1, Chevalier served in the French army and was, in fact, already half-way through his National Service and was stationed near the German border when the war began in 1914. Seeing action in the first bloody weeks of the war, he was wounded in the back by shrapnel and then captured. He spent 2 years in a German POW camp where he passed the time by learning English which greatly assisted him in his later career. He was released in 1916 thanks to the influence of the King of Spain who was a friend of Chevalier’s girlfriend Mistinguett. Chevalier spent the remainder of the war entertaining Allied troops behind the lines.
Art, Music & Literature
*Georges Braque (France) - Modernist Painter and co-invented the Cubist Abstract style of painting with his friend Picasso in the decade prior to the war.He joined up in 1914 and served in the French army on the Western Front, sustaining a severe head-wound early in the war.
Film and theatre
*Friedrich W Murnau (Germany)- Film Director of the German Expressionist Period during the 1920s and who emigrated to the USA in 1926. He directed the acclaimed 1927 silent film ‘Sunrise’ starring George O’Brien (see above) and which was nominated for Best Film at the very first Academy Awards held the same year. It is cited by many critics as one of the best films ever made. He is also well-known for his film Nosferatu (1922), an interpretation of the Vampire Legend, along with The Last Laugh (1925) and Faust (1926). He died in a car-accident in 1931 and only 11 people came to his funeral, including Fritz Lang and Greta Garbo. Murnau trained as a pilot and flew in the German Air-Force during WW1.
Art, Music & Literature
*Otto Dix (Germany) – Painter of the German Expressionist Movement who achieved great success during the 1920s through to the 1960s. He produced powerful works that commented on the war and life in modern Germany. His large canvas ‘Trench Warfare’ which gruesomely depicted the horrors of the Great War was burned by the Nazis shortly before WW2. By the 1950s, his work mellowed in its emotional impact and the final part of his career was devoted to painting romantic landscapes.The 23-year-old Dix joined up in 1914 and first served in the Field Artillery and was then assigned to a Machine-Gun unit, taking part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 where he was seriously wounded. He also served on the Eastern Front in 1917 until the Russian surrender and then returned to the West where he took part in the March Offensive in 1918. Dix earned the Iron cross and reached the rank of vice-Sgt Major.
Film and theatre
Art, Music & Literature
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Art, Music & Literature
*C S Lewis (Ireland) - Writer & author of the classic children’s books- the Chronicles of Narnia. n the Great War, he served in the British Infantry on the Western Front as a Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry. Arriving at the front in November 1916, he fought at Arras the following year and was wounded. He spent the remainder of the war assigned to duties in Britain.
Art, Music & Literature
*Umberto Boccioni (Italy)- Painter & Sculptor who exhibited works in his native country in 1907-1914 and who was one of the most important members of the so-called Futurist Movement which revolutionised the Visual Arts, Music, Architecture and Literature in Italy with a staunchly pro-modern, anti-traditionalist outlook. In WW1, Boccioni was mobilised into the Italian Royal Army Cavalry. During a training exercise near Verona in August 1916, he was thrown from his horse and trampled. Severely injured, he died the following day
Film and theatre
*Friedrich von Ledebur (Poland)- Stage & Film Actor who appeared in a number of well-known US & British films including Moby Dick (1956), The Blue Max (1966) and Slaughterhouse Five (1974). Von Ledebur was only 16 years-old when he enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1916 and he became an officer in the Austrian Cavalry 1917-18.
Film and theatre
*John Laurie (Scotland)- Actor best-remembered for playing the role of Private Fraser in the BBC hit-comedy series Dads Army 1968-1977 but who also appeared in numerous British film and stage productions in the 1920s-1970s including ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ (1945) and ‘The Way Ahead’ (1944). During WW1, Laurie served in the British Army on the Western Front 1917-18.
Art, Music & Literature
*William Lamb (Scotland)- Painter, Sculptor & Printmaker of the 1920s-1950s. He is best-known for his commissioned portraits of the Duchess of York and her two daughters in 1932. During WW1, Lamb served in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders on the Western Front. He was twice wounded in action, including a serious injury to his right hand therefore he later taught himself to paint and draw with his left.