John Francis Cyril Westerman (born at Southsea, Hampshire 22 January 1901, died at La Linea, Spain 21 November 1991) was an

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 ...

author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. He was the son of author Percy F. Westerman, and wrote at least thirty full length stories for boys, mostly about flying but some in a school series, and edited works for

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

.J.F.C. and Percy Westerman
/ref> His most famous character was John Wentley, the intrepid airman and adventurer. In December 1928, he was married to Muriel Poulter after her separation from her husband C N Lindsaye by whom she had two children, Hugh and Jennie. J F C Westerman "adopted" the children although they retained the surname of Lindsaye. He rose to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

serving with the King's African Rifles and in Korea. Late in life around 1977 he was known to have lived on a

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

both in Gibraltar harbour and off the coast of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

with his second wife Margaret, an Irish career nursing sister. They later moved to a static caravan home along the Costa del Sol. Selected Works Novels ''The Counter-Stroke'' (Ward, Lock & Co., 1946) ''John Wentley Investigates'' (Collins 1951) ''The Secret Island'' ''The Looted Gold (Ward, Lock & Co, 1932)'' ''John Wentley Wins Through (Children's Press)'' ''Twelve Months To Win''

References

English children's writers 1901 births 1991 deaths 20th-century English male writers {{UK-child-writer-stub