Robert Cedric Sheriff was a writer, famous for his play Journey’s End based on his experiences as an army office in WW1. He was born on 6 June 1896 in Hampton Wick. He was educated at Kingston Grammar School and then worked in insurance. When war broke out he was commissioned into the 9th Battalion East Surreys, fighting at Vimy Ridge and Loos. He was severely wounded at Ypres in 1917. After the war he studied at New College, Oxford in the 1930s. He wrote Journey’s End in 1928 and when it was first performed, Laurence Olivier played the lead role. He wrote 10 books, 18 plays and 15 film screenplays including Goodbye Mr Chips and the Dambusters. He died on 13 Nov 1975.
