After many delays and false starts had prolongued his evacuation by a month, on 10th June Wilfred finally got a train to Étrétat, where he was in No.1 General Hospital, staffed by Americans. Having spent a week there, he travelled in a single cabin in a luxurious liner to Southampton on the 16th. After a further 9 days at the Welsh Hospital at Netley, where he was visited by his cousin Leslie Gunston, he was allowed to travel to London. After some shopping and viewing the Summer Exhibition at the Burlington, he caught the night train to Edinburgh, where he “breakfasted hugely” in the Waverley Hotel, walked the length of Princes Street, admiring the Castle, and finally took a taxi to Craiglockhart, 26th June 1917.
The Wilfred Owen Association
