"Base Details" is a war poem by the English war poet Siegfried Sassoon. In the poem Sassoon condemns what he saw as the incompetence and callous indifference to the soldier's at the front displayed by the staff officers, or "scarlet majors" of the British Army, who stayed at the Base "Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel" and "sending glum heroes up the line to death". Like so many of Sassoon's poem's "Base Details" is bitterly sarcastic and utterly derisive of the comfortable establishment that supported the continuation of the war while showing little concern for the people who suffered its consequences. The term war poet came into currency during and after World War I. A number of poets writing in English had been soldiers, and had written about that experience. ... Siegfried Sassoon, 1916 Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE, MC (September 8, 1886 – September 1, 1967) was an English poet and author. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...