WW1 poet Robert Graves' son: How war shaped my father's life A century after the start of World War One the son of Robert Graves, one of Britain's best known war poets, remembers the profound effect the conflict had on his father. William Graves recalls his father's work and how the experience of fighting and getting wounded in the Great War remained with him for the rest of his life. 27 July 2014 the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque society unveiled a plaque to commemorate the life and work of Robert Graves.Robert's war time experience effected him all his life.He was sent over to France in the Spring of 1915 and served in the trenches until the Battle of the Somme.He was injured on July 20, 1916, four days before his 21st birthday. The troops were regrouping when a shell exploded behind him. Shrapnel went through his lung. He was next to a graveyard and close to the ground. He was picked up by the medical team and left in a corner. It wasn’t until that morning that they realised he was still alive. He was taken down to the field hospital which was about five or six km away.
