Herbert was born in Kirbymoorside, North Riding of Yorkshire, UK on 4th December 1893. His parents were Herbert Edward Read, a farmer, and his wife, Eliza, nee Strickland.
Herbert was studying at the University of Leeds when the First World War began. He was commissioned in January 1915 into the Green Howards Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 and the Distinguished Service Order in 1918. His final rank was Captain.
During the First World War, Herbert served in France. He also founded the magazine “Arts & Letters” with Frank Rutter.
Knighted in 1953 "for services to literature", Herbert died on 12th June 1968
On 11th November 1985, Herbert Read was among 16 of the Great War poets commemorated on a slate stone unveiled in Westminster Abbey in London, UK. The area is known as Poet's Corner.
The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under various titles until it was amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), all Yorkshire-based regiments in the King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) on 6 June 2006.
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| Green Howards Cap Badge |
