Nichols invalided home with shell shock
Poet involved
What happened
In August 1916 Nichols was invalided home from France to England with shell shock after service that included Loos and the Somme. He later remained under the care of the neurologist Henry Head. The breakdown ended his front-line career and turned him toward readings, propaganda work, and the assembling of his war books.
Literary impact
Shell shock redirected him from combat to the public role of soldier-poet. Later letters to Head and the darkened nature-note of The Budded Branch show how nervous illness and memory of the Front continued to press on his themes.
Source: Wikipedia
