Arthur Wheen

Arthur Wheen
Lieutenant Wheen at a hospital in England, c.1918
Born	(1897-02-09)9 February 1897 Sunny Corner, Australia
Died	15 March 1971(1971-03-15) (aged 74) Buckinghamshire, England
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Imperial Force
Years of service	1915–1919
Rank	Lieutenant
Battles/wars	First World War
Awards	Military Medal & Two Bars
Other work	Librarian and translator

Arthur Wesley Wheen, MM & Two Bars (9 February 1897 – 15 March 1971) was an Australian soldier, translator and museum librarian. He is best known for translating the work of Erich Maria Remarque into English, beginning with the classic war novel All Quiet on the Western Front in 1929.

He was the son of Clara and Harold Wheen, who was a Wesleyan Minister. His father was transferred to Sydney in 1910, where young Arthur attended Gordon Public School and Sydney Boys High School. In 1915, he won admission to Sydney Teachers College and later attended the University of Sydney, where he studied the fine arts.

Shortly after turning eighteen, he decided to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force and, soon thereafter, was posted to Egypt where he served as a signaller for the 54th Battalion at a military base near the Tel-el-Kebir. The next year saw him reassigned to the front, in France.

In July 1916, he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for braving enemy artillery barrages to repair telephone lines and maintain communications. Later, two bars would be added to his medal, one at Beaulencourt in 1917 and the second at Villers-Bretonneux in 1918. He was one of only fifteen Australians to receive this honour. He rose through the ranks quite rapidly, receiving a promotion to Lance Corporal in January 1918 and then to Corporal only one week later. He was then recommended to an officers' training course in Oxford, which he attended, and was commissioned a Lieutenant in August. Having been wounded twice (in 1917 and 1918) he was finally sent back home to Sydney, on a disability, in 1919.