George Eric Newby (6 December 1919 – 20 October 2006) was an English
travel writer
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...
A Small Place in Italy
''A Small Place in Italy'' is a travel memoir and autobiographical novel written by Eric Newby, author of ''The Last Grain Race'', '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'' and ''Slowly Down the Ganges''. In 1967, Eric Newby and his wife Wanda acquire ...
''.
Early life
Newby was born in
Barnes, London
Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...
, and grew up near
Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...
, London. His father, George, was a partner in a firm of wholesale dressmakers, and his mother, (Minnie) Hilda (née Pomeroy) had been a dress model at
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
. Newby was educated at St Paul's School; after leaving school he worked for two years at the Dorland
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
until 1938 when, at the age of 18,Nicholas Wroe "Around the world in 80 ways" ''The Guardian'', 9 June 2001. he apprenticed aboard the Finnish
windjammer
A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts that may be square rigged, or fore-and-aft rigged, or a combination of the two. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Age of Steam ...
''
Moshulu
''Moshulu'' is a four-masted steel barque, built as ''Kurt'' by William Hamilton and Company at Port Glasgow in Scotland in 1904. The largest remaining original windjammer, she is currently a floating restaurant docked in Penn's Landing, Phila ...
'' and took part in the "
grain race
Grain Race or The Great Grain Race was the informal name for the annual windjammer sailing season generally from South Australia's grain ports on Spencer Gulf to Lizard Point, Cornwall on the southwesternmost coast of the United Kingdom, or to s ...
" from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
to Europe by way of
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
. This voyage was subsequently described in '' The Last Grain Race'' and pictorially documented in ''Learning the Ropes''.pamir.chez-alice: ''The grain races'' (retrieved 1 December 2006)
Military career
During 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 ...
, Newby was commissioned in the
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...
in 1940. As a junior officer in the
Rajput Regiment
The Rajput Regiment is one of the oldest infantry regiments of the Indian Army, tracing its origins back to 1778 with the raising of the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry. The 1st battalion of the regiment was formed in 1798.
After Worl ...
of the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
, he studied for six months of 1941 in
Fatehgarh
Fatehgarh is a cantonment town in Farrukhabad district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located on the south bank of the Ganges River. It is the administrative headquarters of Farrukhabad District. Fatehgarh derives its name from a ...
Special Boat Section
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...
, and was captured during an operation against the coast of
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
in 1946 for his part in the raid.
Newby was sent to a
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
, PG21, at
Chieti
Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...
, a few miles inland from
Pescara
Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...
on the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
coast, and later to PG49 at
Fontanellato
Fontanellato (Parmigiano: ) is a small town in the province of Parma, in northern Italy. It lies on the plains of the River Po near the A1 autostrada, about west of Parma towards Piacenza.
The town was built up in the 15th century around the ...
, near
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
. Escaping with
Michael Gilbert
Michael Francis Gilbert (17 July 1912 – 8 February 2006) was an English solicitor and author of crime fiction.
Early life and education
Gilbert was born on 17 July 1912 in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England to Bernard Samuel Gilbert, a writ ...
and other British prisoners after the
Italian Armistice
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...
, he was helped to hide in the Apennine countryside by a Slovene anti-fascist woman, Wanda Skof, who married him after the war and became a companion on his travels. These experiences were described in his memoir ''
Love and War in the Apennines
''Love and War in the Apennines'' is a 1971 Second World War memoir (with some changes of names and people and places, and some composite characters) by Eric Newby. In the United States the title was changed to ''When the Snow Comes, They Will Ta ...
'', which focuses on how he was helped by ordinary Italians. A film, '' In Love and War'', was made in 2001 based on the book, starring
Callum Blue
Daniel James Callum Blue (born 19 August 1977), known professionally as Callum Blue, is an English actor. Best known for his roles on the Showtime series ''Dead Like Me'' and ''The Tudors'', as well as his roles as Zod in the American televi ...
as Newby and
Barbora Bobuľová
Barbora Bobuľová (born 29 April 1974) is an Italian actress. Since 1995, she has lived and worked mainly in Italy.
Life and work
Born in Martin, Bobuľová trained at the National Drama Academy in Bratislava before moving to Italy in 1995. S ...
as Wanda. He was free until January 1944, when he was recaptured.
Postwar career
After the war, he spent 17 years working on and off in the women's fashion business. In 1956, he set out to climb Mir Samir in the
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
Wilfred Thesiger
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer.
Thesiger's trav ...
. From 1964 to 1973, Newby was Travel Editor 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 ...
'' newspaper.
Margalit Fox
Margalit Fox (born 1961) is an American writer. She began her career in publishing in the 1980s, before switching to journalism in the 1990s. She joined the obituary department of ''The New York Times'' in 2004, and authored over 1,400 obituarie ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 24 October 2006.
Later life and recognition
In 1967, Newby and his wife began restoring a dilapidated farmhouse in the foothills of the
Apuan Alps
The Apuan Alps ( it, Alpi Apuane) are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximately .
...
in Italy. ''
A Small Place in Italy
''A Small Place in Italy'' is a travel memoir and autobiographical novel written by Eric Newby, author of ''The Last Grain Race'', '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'' and ''Slowly Down the Ganges''. In 1967, Eric Newby and his wife Wanda acquire ...
'', a memoir of the couple's experiences in renovating the house, was published in 1995.
Newby was awarded a
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 ...
in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the
British Guild of Travel Writers
The British Guild of Travel Writers Limited is a private company limited by guarantee formed in April 2015.
This private company is the successor organisation to the erstwhile voluntary association known as the British Guild of Travel Writers. ...
in 2001. His life and work were profiled in ITV's ''
The South Bank Show
''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...
'' in 1994. He made travel films for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, returning to Parma with his wife Wanda in ''The Travel Show'' (1994) and visiting one of his favourite cities,
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
(1996).
Newby's last published book was ''A Book of Lands and Peoples'', which appeared in 2003. He died at age 86 in
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
Selected bibliography
* '' The Last Grain Race'' (1956)
* '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'' (1958)
* ''Something Wholesale'' (1962)
* ''Slowly Down the Ganges'' (1966)
* ''Time off in Southern Italy: The Observer Guide to Resorts and Hotels'' (ed.) (1966)
* ''My Favorite Stories of Travel'' (ed.) (1967)
* ''Grain Race: Pictures of Life before the Mast in a Windjammer'' (1968)
* ''Wonders of Britain: A Personal Choice of 480'' with Diana Petry (1968)
* ''Wonders of Ireland: A Personal Choice of 484'' with Diana Petry (1969)
* ''
Love and War in the Apennines
''Love and War in the Apennines'' is a 1971 Second World War memoir (with some changes of names and people and places, and some composite characters) by Eric Newby. In the United States the title was changed to ''When the Snow Comes, They Will Ta ...
'' (1971)
* ''When the Snow Comes, They Will Take You Away '' ("Love and War in the Apennines" 1971 USA edition by Charles Scribner's Sons)
* ''The Mitchell Beazley World Atlas of Exploration'' (1975)
* ''Great Ascents: A Narrative History of Mountaineering'' (1977)
* ''The Big Red Train Ride'' (1978)
* ''A Traveller's Life'' (1982)
* ''On the Shores of the Mediterranean'' (1984)
* ''A Book of Travellers' Tales'' (ed.) (1985)
* ''Round Ireland in Low Gear'' (1987)
* ''What the Traveller Saw'' (1989)
* ''
A Small Place in Italy
''A Small Place in Italy'' is a travel memoir and autobiographical novel written by Eric Newby, author of ''The Last Grain Race'', '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'' and ''Slowly Down the Ganges''. In 1967, Eric Newby and his wife Wanda acquire ...
'' (1994)
* ''A Merry Dance Around the World: The Best of Eric Newby'' (1995)
* ''Learning the Ropes: An Apprentice in the Last of the Windjammers'' (1999)
* ''Departures and Arrivals'' (1999)
References
Bibliography
* Cocker, Mark, ''Loneliness and Time: British Travel Writing in the Twentieth Century'', London: Secker and Warburg, and New York: Pantheon, 1992
* Newby, Wanda, ''Peace and War: Growing up in Fascist Italy'', London: Collins, 1991
* Robb, Kenneth A. and Harender Vasudeva, "Eric Newby" in British Travel Writers, 1940 997, ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', volume 204, edited by Barbara Brothers and Julia M. Gergits, Detroit: Gale, 1999: 223–34
* Thesiger, Wilfred, ''Desert, Marsh and Mountain: The World of a Nomad'', London: Collins, 1979; as ''The Last Nomad'', New York: Dutton, 1980
The Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...