Alan John Ross (6 May 1922 – 14 February 2001) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
poet, writer, editor and publisher.
Early years
Ross was born in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, son of John Brackenridge Ross,
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, a former Lieutenant in the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
Reserve (
Supply and Transport Corps), a businessman involved in the coal-mining industry as a partner in Gilchrist, Peace & Ross, of Calcutta, "merchants and engineers, shipping, clearing and forwarding agents", managing agents for, amongst others, the Indian Coal and Mineral Syndicate Ltd and the Konda Colliery, and Clare Margaret, daughter of Captain Patrick Fitzpatrick of the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
. When, aged seven, he was sent to be educated in
Falmouth, England, he spoke better
Hindustani than
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. Following
preparatory school, he boarded at
Haileybury where, being both small for his age and a latecomer to his year, he initially suffered greatly from bullying – to his intense relief, the bully was killed in a cycling accident whilst on holiday – but his stock quickly rose when he revealed a talent which matched his passion for cricket. With a hint of the debonair style that was to characterise his life, Ross avoided participation in the
OTC and all study of mathematics and science, instead enjoying art, French poetry and racquet sports. As a senior boy he was caned for making an unlicensed visit to
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
; it was his misfortune that he figured, smoking a cigarette, in a photograph of spectators carried in his headmaster's newspaper the following morning.
In 1940 he went to read Modern Languages at
St John's College, Oxford, where he was a contemporary of
Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...
and
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...
. Ross represented the university at both
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
and
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
but did not complete his studies after joining the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in 1941. Before doing so, he appeared in the annual
match against Cambridge at
Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
in 1941, but because of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the fixture was reduced to a single day and did not have
first-class status. In the same season he appeared in one one-day match for
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
.
Naval career
During his first two years in the Royal Navy, Ross served on several
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s escorting supply ships to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. On 30 December 1942 he was almost killed whilst serving aboard , the leading destroyer in a convoy assigned to fend off a strong flotilla of German capital ships intent on annihilating the arctic
convoy JW 51B
Convoy JW 51B was an Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943.
JW 51B came under attack b ...
, at the
Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...
. He was ordered to take a turn controlling a fire below in the forward part of the ship and, to save the main body of the ship in the event of an explosion, sealed in for half an hour with a hose, armpit-deep in water, the bodies of two gun crews washing against him. The incident is vividly described in both his poem "J.W.51B a convoy" and his first volume of memoirs.
Journalistic career
After he was demobilised in 1946 Ross decided not to resume his studies at Oxford, but instead to try his hand at journalism. In 1946 his first poetry collection ''The Derelict Day'' was published; it contained poems he had written whilst in the Navy. The following year the publisher
John Lehmann
Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals ''New Writing'' and ''The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited.
Biography
Born in ...
funded him and the artist
John Minton to travel to
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
to produce the travel book ''Time Was Away''.
Ross became a sports writer for ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' in 1950, and became the paper's cricket correspondent in 1953, the same year his son was born. Throughout the 1950s he was a regular contributor to Lehmann's ''
The London Magazine
''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics.
1732–1785
''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...
'', before taking over as the title's editor in 1961. He edited the monthly magazine under the trimmed title ''London Magazine'' until his death; during this period it was transformed from an academic literary review to a far more cutting-edge review of the arts.
Poetry
Ross came to prominence as a poet with poems inspired by his experience during the Second World War. He was one of the few poets who wrote poems in English about naval warfare during that war.
Personal life
In 1949 Ross married
Jennifer Fry
Jennifer Fry (born 24 March 1989) is a South African badminton player. She was a 2015 All-Africa Games gold medalist in the mixed doubles event, also won the silver medal in the mixed team event. In 2017, she claimed two gold medals at the 2017 ...
, the only child of
Sir Geoffrey Fry, 1st Baronet
Sir Geoffrey Storrs Fry, 1st Baronet, (27 July 1888 – 1960) was private secretary to prime ministers Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin, and a member of the Fry family.
Early life
Geoffrey Storrs Fry was born on 27 July 1888. He was the younger s ...
, of the Fry family who founded the chocolate company.
Bibliography
*''Time Was Away: a Notebook in Corsica'' (John Lehmann, 1948) – travel, memoir
*''The Bandit on the Billiard Table; a Journey through Sardinia'' (Derek Verschoyle, 1954) – travel
*''The Onion Man'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1959) – children's book, illus. by
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...
*''Danger on Glass Island'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1960) – children's book, illus. Raymond Briggs
*''The Wreck of Moni'' (Alan Ross, 1965) – children's book, illus. Raymond Briggs
*''A Castle in Sicily'' (Alan Ross, 1966) – children's book, illus. Toni Patten
*''Blindfold Games'' (Collins Harvill, 1986) – autobiography
*''Coastwise Lights'' (Collins Harvill, 1988) – autobiography
*''Winter Sea: War, Journeys, Writers'' (Harvill Press, 1997) – travel, memoir
*''Reflections on Blue Water: Journeys in the Gulf of Naples and in the Aeolian Islands'' (Harvill Press, 1999) – travel, memoir
Poetry
*''The Derelict Day: Poems in Germany'' (John Lehmann, 1947)
*''Something of the Sea'' (Derek Verschoyle, 1954)
*''To Whom It May Concern'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1958)
*''African Negatives'' (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1962)
*''North from Sicily: Poems in Italy 1961–64'' (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1965)
*''Poems 1942–67'' (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1967)
*''Tropical Ice'' (Covent Garden Press, 1972)
*''The Taj Express: Poems 1967–73'' (London Magazine Editions, 1973)
*''Open Sea'' (London Magazine Editions, 1975)
*''Death Valley and other Poems in America'' (London Magazine Editions, 1980)
*''After Pusan'' (Harvill Press, 1995)
*''Poems'' (Harvill Press, 2005)
Major works on cricket
*''Australia 55: A Journal of the M.C.C. Tour'' (Michael Joseph, 1955)
*''Cape Summer and the Australians in England'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1957)
*''Through the Caribbean: England in the West Indies, 1960'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1960)
*''The Cricketer's Companion'' – editor (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1960); republished as ''Kingswood Book of Cricket'' (1979)
*''Australia 63'' (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1963)
*''Crusoe on Cricket: the Cricket Writings of R. C. Robertson-Glasgow'' – editor (Alan Ross, 1966)
*''Ranji: Prince of Cricketers'' (Harvill Press, 1983)
*''An Australian Summer: The Recovery of the Ashes 1985'' (Kingswood Press, 1985), with
Patrick Eagar
*''Green Fading into Blue: Writings on Cricket and other Sports'' (Andre Deutsch, 1999) – sporting memoir
Notes
References
*
Haigh, Gideon.
Big pictures, artfully painted" 6 September 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
*Ross, Alan (1986). ''Blindfold Games''. London, Collins Harvill. .
*Ross, Alan (1988). ''Coastwise Lights''. London, Collins Harvill. .
Obituary from ''The Guardian''Photograph of Alan Ross, ''The Guardian'' Retrieved 26 October 2010.
*http://www.warpoets.org/?s=alan+ross&x=GO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Alan
1922 births
2001 deaths
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
British magazine editors
Cricket writers
People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Royal Navy personnel of World War II
British male poets
20th-century British poets
Writers from Kolkata
20th-century British male writers
British people in colonial India