Siegfried Sassoon legacy to be preserved

The personal belongings of First World War soldier, poet and author Siegfried Sassoon will be preserved for the nation by a £550,000 grant.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund said its award to Cambridge University will help it to acquire Sassoon's private diaries and notebooks, compiled while serving on the Western Front.

The University Library's £1.25 million campaign to buy the archive was launched in June and is close to success, leaving £110,000 still to raise.

Organisers say the acquisition, combined with Cambridge University Library's existing holdings, will create the most significant collection of Sassoon manuscripts in the world.

Included in the collection is a manuscript of A Soldier's Declaration - the statement Sassoon wrote detailing his refusal to return to duty after being wounded.

The campaign is being led by Max Egremont, Sassoon's official biographer, and several contemporary literary figures.

Mr Egremont said: "The response to the appeal has been heartening in these difficult times and shows Sassoon's popularity and importance as a writer.

"If the rest of the money can be raised, the papers will soon be available to the public.

"It is particularly appropriate that they will be in Cambridge, Siegfried Sassoon's old university and a place that he loved."