Edward Jerrard Tickell (14 February 1905 – 27 March 1966) was an Irish writer, known for his novels and historical books on 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 opposi ...

Biography

Jerrard Tickell was born in Dublin and educated in

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

and, from 1919 until 1922 at Highgate School in London. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941, when he was appointed to the War Office. Between 1943 and 1945 his official duties took him to Africa, the Middle East, Washington DC, Canada, the West Indies and Europe. He was appointed to the General Staff in 1945. He was married to the author and psychical researcher Renée Haynes, the daughter of the eminent English social moralist

E. S. P. Haynes Edmund Sidney Pollock Haynes (26 September 1877 – 5 January 1949), best known as E. S. P. Haynes was a British lawyer and writer. Biography The son of a London solicitor, Haynes was a King's Scholar at Eton College and a winner of a Bracke ...

and Oriana Huxley Waller (a granddaughter of

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...

) and they had three sons: Crispin, Patrick, and Tom. Tickell wrote 21 novels, including the bestselling ''

Appointment with Venus ''Appointment with Venus'' () is a novel by Jerrard Tickell published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1951, leading to a British film adaptation the same year and Venus fra Vestø, a Danish film adaptation in 1962. The story is based on a real incident ...

'' (1951), which was made into a film of the same name starring

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

and a 1962 Danish film ''

Venus fra Vestø ''Venus fra Vestø'' (literally, ''Venus from West Island'') is a 1962 Danish comedy war film directed by Annelise Reenberg and starring Malene Schwartz. The film is based on Jerrard Tickell's 1951 novel ''Appointment with Venus'' (Danish titl ...

''. His non-fiction work includes a memoir of SOE agent

Odette Hallowes Odette Sansom (28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. S ...

, an account of No. 138 Squadron RAF (the "moon squadron"), and a history of "Ascalon", Winston Churchill's personal Avro York transport aircraft.

Scandal

A book, ''The West End Front'' (published in 2011) by

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

, gives details of a forgotten family incident in London during WW2 which resulted in Jerrard facing trial at the Old Bailey for a charge for which he was acquitted. Sweet recounts how he broke the news of this rediscovered chapter of family history to Jerrard's two surviving son's Sir Crispin, formerly Britain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Tom Tickell, former ''Guardian'' newspaper columnist.

Publications

Non-fiction

The Story of a British Agent'' (1949)
*''Moon Squadron'' (1956) *''Ascalon: The Story of Sir Winston Churchill's Wartime Flights from 1943 to 1945'' (1964)

Fiction

*''Yolan of the Plains'' (1928) *''See How They Run'' (1936) *''Fly Away Blackbird'' (1936) *''Silk Purse'' (1937) *''Jill Fell Down'' (1938) *''Gentlewomen Aim to Please'' (1938) *''At Dusk All Cats Are Grey'' (1940) *''Soldier from the Wars Returning'' (1942) *''

'' (1951) *''The Hand and Flower'' (1952) *''Dark Adventure'' (1952) *''The Dart Players'' (1953) *''The Hero of Saint Roger'' (1954) *''Miss May: The Story of an Englishwoman'' (1958) *''Whither Do You Wander?'' (1959) *''The Hunt for Richard Thorpe'' (1960) *''Villa Mimosa'' (1960) *''Hussar Honeymoon'' (1963) *''High Water at Four'' (1965)

References