C.S. Lewis served in France during World War I.
Lewis enlisted in the British Army during the First World War and was commissioned into the Somerset Light Infantry. He arrived on the Western Front in November 1917, serving as a second lieutenant. His wartime experience exposed him to trench warfare and the dangers faced by British troops in northern France.
In April 1918, Lewis was wounded by shrapnel during the fighting near Arras. He was later sent back to England to recover and did not return to frontline service. His wartime experiences influenced his later reflections on suffering, grief, friendship, and belief.
A common mix-up places Lewis’s military service in Ireland because he was born in Belfast, but his wartime deployment was in France. His brother Warren also served in the war, and the two brothers later preserved many memories of their early adulthood in letters and personal accounts.