Arthur Guy Empey
| Arthur Guy Empey | |
|---|---|
From Over the top, 1917
|
|
| Born | 11 December 1883 |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army British Army
|
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Arthur Guy Empey (11 December 1883 – 22 February 1963) was an American soldier in the British Army in World War 1, and an author, screenwriter, actor and movie producer.
Born in Ogden, Utah, U.S. on 11 December 1883 to Rose Empey (née Dana) and Robert Empey.
He served for six years as a professional soldier in the U.S. Cavalry, during which time he became a first class horse-rider and marksman, and was resident in New York City performing duty as a recruiting sergeant for the New Jersey National Guard when World War I began.
He left the United States at the end of 1915 frustrated at its neutrality in the conflict at that point and travelled to London, England, where he voluntarily enlisted with the 1st London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), T.F., of the British Army, going on to serve with it in the 56th (London) Division on the Western Front as a bomber and a machine-gunner. He was medically discharged from the British Army after being wounded in action at the commencement of the Battle of the Somme.
On returning to the United States, Empey wrote a book of his experiences titled Over the Top, which became a publishing sensation in 1917 with over a quarter of a million copies sold. Empey had attempted to re-join the US Army in 1917 but was rejected due to his wounds. On the basis of the book's success he played a major propaganda role for the Federal Government's policy of moving the nation from a position of neutrality in World War 1 to a combatant role, and toured widely throughout the U.S.A. giving public performances and readings from it to rally the American people to the nation's entry into the conflict. In July 1918 he was commissioned with the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army's Adjutant General's Department, but the commission was withdrawn three days later. There was speculation in the press at the time that this was done because whilst appearing in a theatre performance entitled Pack Up Your Troubles, Empey had given a speech from the stage praising American volunteers but criticizing the draftees, suggesting that the latter lacked the right stuff because rather than volunteering they had waited "until they were fetched"; in the audience was President Woodrow Wilson who had apparently been unimpressed with the speech's content.
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