Peter Elstob

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Peter Elstob
London, England

Peter Frederick Egerton Elstob (22 December 1915 – 21 July 2002) was a British soldier, adventurer, novelist, military historian and entrepreneur. In his writing, he is best known for his lightly-fictionalized novel

Elizabeth I.[1]

Biography

Peter Elstob was born in London, UK on 22 December 1915, in the midst of WW I. His father, Frederick, was a chartered accountant whose work drew him and his family first to Calcutta and then to the United States in the immediate aftermath of the war. The family struggled in the US because Frederick's credentials as a CA were not recognised there.[2] Peter attended school in New York and New Jersey, graduating from Summit High School in 1934. Although he remained proudly British, he retained an American accent to the end of his life.[2]

Following high school, Elstob began a series of escapades that showed his signature taste for adventure and unconventionality:

Then, for no particular reason – except, perhaps, his life-long antagonism to authority – he ran away from home and signed on as a ship's bellboy. In Rio de Janeiro, he jumped ship, found a job and got engaged to the boss's daughter. His father tracked him down and persuaded him to go to the University of Michigan, but Elstob failed his freshman's year and got into trouble with the police. He was then sent to England with instructions to join the army. A letter of introduction to a friend of his father's led to a short service commission in the RAF.[1]

His stint in the RAF was short; he was dismissed after five months for stunt flying. After several odd jobs, he decided to volunteer as a pilot for the Republicans in Spain. Shortly after his arrival he was arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of spying. He was eventually freed and sent to France due to the intervention of Medora Leigh-Smith, a young Labour Party official he had met in England; his experiences gave him the material for his first novel, The Spanish Prisoner (1939). In France, Leigh-Smith found she was pregnant, and the couple soon married.[1]

On the outbreak of World War II, Elstob applied to rejoin the RAF, but after a long delay he was turned down. He then volunteered with the Royal Tank Regiment, eventually becoming a tank commander.

Warriors For the Working Day
 (1960).

During his "odd job" period before the war, Elstob met Arnold "Bushy" Eiloart in

balloon flight, with Elstob as manager and Eiloart as captain. While the attempt failed after 1,200 miles, Eiloart and his crew of three were able to make Barbados in their twin-hulled gondola. This adventure led to the non-fiction book The Flight of the Small World (1959).[2]

During the 1960s Elstob joined the English centre of International PEN, the worldwide association of writers, quickly gaining a place on the executive committee and becoming press officer to the organisation. In 1967, he went to

Biafran Civil War. During the following years he became more involved in PEN, eventually becoming its secretary-general and then vice-president over a seven-year term, placing the organisation on a firm financial footing.[2] He was unpaid for this work, and neglected his own writing for the sake of the organisation. He was able to retire from his position in 1981, relocating to the New Forest, but he continued to attend International PEN conferences.[1]

In 1971, Elstob's best regarded military history, Hitler's Last Offensive, on the Battle of the Bulge, was published. Elstob was one of the few British soldiers who had fought in that campaign, as part of the 29th Armoured Brigade. During this period he also wrote three popular history paperbacks for the Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II series: Bastogne: the road block (Battle book, No. 4); Battle of the Reichwald (Battle book, No. 19); and Condor Legion (Weapons book, No. 35). These are probably his best-selling works.

Elstob's writing included two other novels, The Armed Rehearsal (1960), about the Spanish Civil War, and Scoundrel (1986). He claimed that the last was based on a

con man he had met on his travels, but his friends and associates believed it was largely autobiographical.[2]

Personal life

Elstob was married to Medora Leigh-Smith from 1937 to 1953. They had five children. After their divorce he married Barbara Morton Zacheisz; they had two children.[2]

Bibliography

  • The Spanish Prisoner (1939)
  • The Flight of the Small World (1959)
  • The Armed Rehearsal (1960)
  • Warriors For the Working Day
     (1960)
  • Bastogne: the road block (1968)
  • Battle of the Reichwald (1970)
  • Hitler's Last Offensive (1971)
  • Condor Legion (1973)
  • Scoundrel (1986)

In popular culture

The protagonist of Gail F. Borden's novel Easter Day 1941 appears to be loosely based on Elstob, and his experiences in the fighting in the

Western Desert in early 1941.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Pullein-Thompson, Josephine (25 July 2002). "Peter Elstob". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Peter Elstob". The Telegraph, London. 31 July 2002. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  3. ^ Peter Elstob; Bastogne: the road block; Ballantine Books, New York, 1968; inside front cover
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