Sherriff, R C

Robert Cedric Sherriff was born on 6th June 1896 in Hampton Wick in Middlesex. After attending grammar school, he was employed by the Sun Assurance Company in London as a clerk in 1914. When war broke out, the British Army advertised for men between the ages of 17 and 30 to be junior officers, and Sherriff decided to apply. However, his application was rejected. By 1915 the British had lost so many men they were forced to lower their standards, and in November, Sherriff’s second application was accepted.

On 7th October 1916 Sherriff arrived on the front line at the Western Front. On 7th January 1917 he was injured, but after two weeks of treatment returned to the front line. On 31st July 1917 Sherriff was part of a British attempt to break through the German lines at Passchendaele. The conditions during this assault were particularly miserable. Sherriff himself described it as follows:

The living conditions in our camp were sordid beyond belief. The cookhouse was flooded, and most of the food was uneatable... The cooks tried to supply bacon for breakfast, but the men complained that it smelled like dead men.

During the attack Sherriff was injured when a shell detonated nearby, sending shards of concrete into his face. He was taken to a nearby hospital at Wimereux for immediate treatment, and was then shipped back to England, where he remained in hospital until November. Following this, Sherriff joined the Home Service battalion of his regiment, and assisted with the war effort at home until March 1919. For his services during the war, he was awarded the Military Cross.

After leaving the military, Sherriff returned to London to work as an insurance adjuster. He began writing plays, of which the seventh was Journey’s End in 1928. In 1931 he went to New College, Oxford, to study History. Following completion of these studies, Sherriff went to Hollywood, and made a career writing screenplays. He won an Academy Award in 1939 for his work adapting Goodbye, Mr Chips for the screen. Sherriff wrote many other plays and film scripts, but Journey’s End is arguably the best known and most critically acclaimed. He died in London on 13th November 1975, aged 79.

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1896, 6^th June

Birth

Sherriff was born in Hampton Wick in Middlesex, and his parents were Herbert Hankin Sherriff, an insurance clerk, and Annie Constance Winder. Sherriff had an older sister, Beryl, and a younger brother, Cecil.

1897–1914

Education and boyhood interests

Sherriff was educated at Kingston Grammar School. As a boy he participated widely in sports including cricket, football, hockey and rowing.

1914

Early employment

Sherriff went to work in London as a clerk at the Sun Insurance Company.

1914–1917

War

After his initial application to become a junior officer was rejected, Sherriff enlisted with the Artists Corp. He was subsequently an infantry captain with the 9th East Surrey Regiment.

He fought on the Western Front in France and at Passchendaele in Belgium. He was injured in 1917 at Bracquemont.

More details about Sherriff’s war service and his injury in the field

1918–1919

Return to Britain

Sherriff spent time in hospital until November 1917, and after that lectured on gas warfare as part of the Scottish Command in Glasgow. His wartime service saw him awarded the Military Cross in 1919.

1919–1926

Writing for the theatre

After returning initially to his job as an insurance adjuster, Sherriff started producing plays for the stage. Early plays included A Hitch In The Proceedings (1921), The Woods of Meadowside (1922), Profit and Loss (1923), Cornlow in the Downs (1923), The Feudal System (1925) and Mr Birdie’s Finger (1926).

1928

Journey’s End

His best-known work was written and produced in 1928. It was first performed in the West End with a young Laurence Olivier in the part of Stanhope. In writing the play, Sherriff drew from his own experience of war in a dugout on the Western Front in 1918. The play ran for 595 performances in London, and was a huge critical and commercial success on Broadway and eventually around the globe.

A large reason for the play’s success lay in the way it allowed audiences insight into the experiences undergone by friends or family in the trenches. The play was also produced a decade after the war’s end, when addressing the subject of the war objectively was easier than in its immediate aftermath. The play also began a trend for war dramas in the 1930s.

For more context on the success of such plays, see:
Barbara Melosh, ‘“Peace in Demand”: Anti-War Drama in the 1930s’, History Workshop, 22 (1986), pp. 70–88

An argument for different representations of the war experience – with particular reference to World War I – than the realist, male-focused one of Sherriff and others can be found here:
Amanda Phipps, ‘Journey’s End: An Account of the Changing Responses Towards the First World War's Representation’, Retrospectives, 3:1 (2014), pp. 59–78

1930

Financial independence

The success of Journey’s End allowed Sherriff to acquire Rosebriars in Esher, where he would live with his mother Constance.

1931–1932

Further education

Sherriff studied History at Oxford. In 1931 he also completed the book The Fortnight in September.

1933–1944

Screenwriting and Hollywood

Sherriff was offered work as a scenario writer by Universal Pictures on The Invisible Man (1933) and moved to Hollywood in Los Angeles. He would work on a number of projects in Hollywood, notably Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), for which he received a joint Academy Award nomination, The Four Feathers (1939) and Major Barbara (1941).

1955

Screen, stage and literary writing

After several years writing in England with varying success, Sherriff wrote the screenplay for The Dam Busters (1955), which was nominated for a BAFTA award. Other work produced during the 1950s included the novel King John’s Treasure (1954) and the plays Home at Seven (1950) and The Telescope (1956).

1960

Musical theatre

n 1960 Sherriff turned his hand to a musical entitled Johnny The Priest, which was based on his play The Telescope.

1965

Loss of mother

Sherriff’s mother died and he remained living alone as a bachelor at Rosebriars.

1968

Autobiography

Sherriff published his autobiography entitled No Leading Lady.

1928–1975

Critical reception

The bulk of critical attention regarding Sherriff has been focused on Journey’s End, with high praise given to its realism. Many contemporary responses mentioned that idea of a shared experience, notably the novelist Hugh Walpole in The Morning Post of 31st January 1929, in an article with the subheading ‘Truth at Last’. Sherriff’s position regarding war and pacifism in the play has been a long-debated subject, one that survives up to the present day.

For an exploration of the debate see: Charlotte Purkis, ‘The Mediation of Constructions of Pacifism in Journey's End and The Searcher, two Contrasting Dramatic Memorials from the Late 1920s’, Journalism Studies, 17:4 (2016), pp. 502-516

1975, 13^th September

Death

Sherriff died in Kingston Hospital, aged 79. He was cremated and his ashes buried with those of his mother at St Winifred’s Church in Selsey.

1975–2021

Legacy

Sherriff left Rosebriars to Elmbridge Council, as a location for the arts and cultural events. His will also stipulated that any future royalties from his writing should be divided between Kingston School, to which he bequeathed his papers, and the Scout Association.

About the Contributor

T Baird

Writer for ZigZag Education

Journey's End: Activity Pack for CCEA GCSE English Literature

Based on Sheriff’s personal experiences of World War I, Journey’s End is a moving account of life in the trenches. Ensure full understanding of this powerful text with a wealth of differentiated activities for every aspect of the play. Plus! ‘exam technique’ worksheets build essay-writing skills for a range of exam-style questions.

Journey’s End Study Guide for CCEA GCSE

Realise the horror and futility of war with R C Sherriff’s claustrophobic and tense depiction of the fears, tensions and friendships of five British Army infantry officers. Illuminate the events of the play with detailed character studies, student-friendly analysis, and thought-provoking activities sure to have your students contemplating the immense hardships placed on the young officers and working-class soldiers of the First World War.

Journey's End: Activity Pack for GCSE

Classism and romanticism, leadership and censorship – Journey’s End offers an abundance of themes that students can advance into. This ‘fantastic’ pack contains a variety of stimulating, ready-to-use activities, covering all aspects of R C Sherriff’s hard-hitting play.

Journey's End: Cambridge IGCSE Activity Pack

Classism and romanticism, leadership and censorship – Journey’s End offers an abundance of themes that students can advance into. This ‘fantastic’ pack contains a variety of stimulating, ready-to-use activities, covering all aspects of R C Sherriff’s hard-hitting play.

Journey's End: Cambridge IGCSE Study Guide

Dealing with the grim reality and futility of war, Journey’s End is an unrelenting insight into life in the trenches towards the end of World War I as Stanhope and his officers await attack. Support students in conquering the play’s key themes of gallantry, camaraderie and accountability with ‘extremely thorough and detailed’ notes and analysis.

Journey's End: Study Guide for GCSE