Like Graves, Sassoon was asked to provide copy for the publication The Great War…‘I was there!’ At the Front, ‘Mad Jack’ Sassoon was both brave and foolhardy.
He captured a German trench in the Hindenburg Line and scattered some 60 German soldiers with grenades; he commanded successful night raids and bombing patrols; and he proved an exemplary model to his men.
On one occasion he sat in a German trench and read a book of poems which he had with him. Sassoon was awarded the Military Cross in July 1916 ‘for conspicuous gallantry.’ He was later (unsuccessfully) recommended for the Victoria Cross.