Evelyn Waugh at war

Max Bayliss pays tribute to Evelyn Waugh, whose themes of self-sacrifice, tradition and service seem to have been cast aside by today’s society

OVER A PINT RECENTLY, A FRIEND DEscribed how, after leaving the infantry, he underwent a prolonged period of physical and psychological exertion in the hope of joining the Special Forces. Gruelling stuff. Despite years of training and an impressive service record, he didn’t make the cut. Yet Evelyn Waugh, at 37 and running to fat after two sedentary decades veering between the bottle and the typewriter, joined 8 Commando. He had been recommended by a friend to Brigadier Sir Joseph Laycock at the bar of White’s. Laycock, who admired Waugh’s work, took him on because their mutual friend said he was “often funnier in fact than in fiction” and “could not fail to be an asset in the dreary business of war”. To spend an afternoon in Waugh’s company is…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August/September 2024

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