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Illustrated portrait of Captain Chris Baldry

A character in The Return of the Soldier

Captain Chris Baldry

A First World War officer who returns home with fifteen years missing from his memory.

What they want

To remain in the remembered world where Margaret loves him and the war has not happened.

The book

Cover of The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
The Return of the SoldierRebecca West, 1918

A soldier comes home without fifteen years of memory, forcing three women to decide what a cure would restore—and destroy.

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At a glance

Rank
Captain
Condition
Fifteen-year memory loss after shell shock
Spouse
Kitty Baldry
Remembered love
Margaret Allington Grey

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Chris is a wealthy British officer physically removed from the front after shell shock. He believes he is twenty-one and that his youthful love for Margaret is current.

He does not recognize Kitty as his wife and sees Baldry Court as an altered, oppressive place. Jenny is familiar only as the younger cousin he remembers.

With Margaret he becomes relaxed because she belongs to the last life his mind accepts. That happiness makes treatment a moral problem.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • Officer's uniformMilitary dress belongs to an identity his memory cannot fully accept.
  • Youthful trustHis adult face briefly carries the openness of his remembered age.
  • Unfamiliar homeBaldry Court feels imposed rather than protective.
  • Ease with MargaretHis posture changes when she arrives.
  • Missing griefHis relief depends on events he cannot remember.
  • Changed gaitThe ending makes restored memory visible in how he walks.
What Chris remembersHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Oliver's jersey and ball restore the missing years, including his son's death. He returns toward the house with a soldier's bearing and may again be sent to war.

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