Arthur Wesley Wheen, (9 February 1897 – 15 March 1971) was an Australian soldier, translator and museum librarian. He is best known for translating the work of

Erich Maria Remarque Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during Worl ...

into English, beginning with the classic war novel ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma du ...

'' in 1929.

Early life and education

He was the son of Clara and Harold Wheen, who was a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

Minister. His father was transferred to Sydney in 1910, where young Arthur attended Gordon Public School and

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

. In 1915, he won admission to

Sydney Teachers College The Sydney Teachers' College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until the end of 1981, when it became the Sydney Institute of Education, a part of the new Sydney College o ...

and later attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where he studied the fine arts.Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, Article by Sally O'Neill
/ref>

First World War

Wheen was eighteen years and eight months old when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 15 October 1915. Two months later, he embarked as a reinforcement for the 1st Australian Battalion and arrived in Egypt when the Australian Army in Egypt was being expanded from two to four divisions. He was transferred to the newly formed 54th Battalion of the 5th Australian Division where he served as a

signaller A signaller, signalman, colloquially referred to as a radioman or signaleer in the armed forces is a specialist soldier, sailor or airman responsible for military communications. Signallers, a.k.a. Combat Signallers or signalmen or women, are ...

. The battalion trained at a military base near

Tel-el-Kebir Tell El Kebir ( ar, التل الكبير lit."the great mound") is 110 km north-north-east of Cairo and 75 kilometres south of Port Said on the edge of the Egyptian desert at the altitude of 29 m. Administratively, it is a part of the Isma ...

before moving with the rest of the division to France in June 1916. He was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

(MM) for braving enemy artillery barrages to repair telephone lines and maintain communications at

Fromelles Fromelles () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. it had a population of 1,041; its inhabitants are called ''Fromellois''. It is located about to the west of Lille. First World War The village of Fromelles was captured by a ...

in July 1916.Australian War Memorial Hall of Fame Later, two bars would be added to his medal, one at

Beaulencourt Beaulencourt () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A small farming village located 20 miles (32 km) south of Arras on the N17 road, at the junction with the D11. The ...

in 1917 and the second at

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

in 1918. He was one of only fifteen Australians to receive three Military Medals. He was appointed

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

in January 1918 and promoted

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

a week later. Later in 1918 he attended an officers' training course in Oxford and was commissioned lieutenant in August. He was twice wounded (in 1917 and 1918). Wheen was invalided to England in September 1918 and returned to Australia reaching Sydney on 5 January 1919. A biography, ''The other side of no man's land: Arthur Wheen World War I hero; scholar and pacifist'' by John Ramsland was published in 2015.

Later years

He promptly returned to Sydney University to complete his studies. In 1920, he was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and left Australia to study Modern History at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, graduating in 1923. He was soon able to secure a position at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, where he was appointed "Keeper of the Library" in 1945, remaining in that post until his retirement in 1962. In his later years, he dabbled in etching and pottery, as well as writing the occasional magazine article.

Translations

In 1929, when

published ''Im Westen Nichts Neues'', Wheen was quick to read it and compare it with his own experiences, which prompted him to do a translation, rendering the title as ''

''. It received excellent reviews and is still considered to be the standard English version of that work. He went on to translate two more novels by Remarque: ''Der Weg Zurück'' (''

The Road Back ''The Road Back'', also translated as ''The Way Back'', (german: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. It was first serialized in the ...

'', 1931) and ''Drei Kameraden'' ( ''Three Comrades'', 1937). His other translations from the German include: ''Four Infantrymen'' by Ernst Johanssen (1930);
The Kaiser Goes: The Generals Remain
' by

Theodor Plivier Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (Plivier, until 1933) (12 February 1892, Berlin – 12 March 1955, Avegno, Switzerland) was a German writer and communist, best known for his 1948 anti-war novel . During World War I, he served on the '' SMS Wolf'' ...

(1933) and ''Virgil, Father of the West'' by

Theodor Haecker Theodor Haecker (June 4, 1879 in Eberbach, Grand Duchy of Baden - April 9, 1945 in Ustersbach) was a German writer, translator and cultural critic. Life He was a translator into German of Kierkegaard and Cardinal Newman. He wrote an essay, '' ...

(1934).Library of Congress His only original work was a novella, ''Two Masters'', first published in the

London Mercury ''The London Mercury'' was the name of several periodicals published in London from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The earliest was a newspaper that appeared during the Exclusion Bill crisis; it lasted only 56 issues (1682). (Earlier periodicals ...

in November 1924.

References

Bibliography

* ''We Talked of Other Things: The Life and Letters of Arthur Wheen 1897–1971'', edited by Tanya Crothers. Woollahra, N.S.W.: Longueville Media (2011)

External links

The Wheen papers in the ''National Library of Australia''

Etching of Wheen by Edgar Holloway (1914–2008) in the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheen, Arthur Wesley 1897 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Australian historians 20th-century British translators Alumni of New College, Oxford Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian recipients of the Military Medal Australian Rhodes Scholars British librarians People educated at Sydney Boys High School University of Sydney alumni