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John Sleigh Pudney (19 January 1909 – 10 November 1977) was a British poet, journalist and author. He was known especially for his popular poetry written 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 ...
, but he also wrote novels, short stories and children's fiction. His broad-ranging non-fiction, often commissioned, served as his primary source of income.


Early life and career

John Pudney was born at
Langley Marish Langley, also known as Langley Marish, is a suburb of Slough in Berkshire, South East England. It is east of the town centre of Slough, and west of Charing Cross in Central London. It was a separate civil parish until the 1930s, when the b ...
, the only son of Henry William Pudney, a farmer and countryman, and Mabel Sleigh Pudney. He was educated at
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
, Holt, where he first encountered
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
,
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, and
Humphrey Spender Humphrey Spender (19 April 1910 – 11 March 2005) was a British photographer, painter, and designer. Family and education Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a journalist and writer. Humphrey's mother, Violet Schuster, came ...
. He left school in 1925 at the age of sixteen, and spent several years working as an estate agent and studying to become a surveyor. However, he began contributing articles to the ''
News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
'' at the same time and also wrote short stories and channelled his love of the countryside into verse.Lubbock, ‘Pudney, John Sleigh (1909–1977)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006
/ref> At the time, he was one of a group of young writers, including
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
, George Barker and
David Gascoyne David Gascoyne (10 October 1916 – 25 November 2001) was an English poet associated with the Surrealist movement, in particular the British Surrealist Group. Additionally he translated work by French surrealist poets. Early life and surrealis ...
; they gathered about the well-known bookshop at No 4, Parton Street, near London's
Red Lion Square Red Lion Square is a small square in Holborn, London. The square was laid out in 1684 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources, the bodies of three regicides—Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and He ...
, run by David Archer. His first published collection of verse, ''Spring Encounter'', came out in 1933 from Methuen and gained the attention of
Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Sieg ...
who became a patron. Pudney also wrote for '' The Listener'', and worked as a producer at 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. ...
...
, where he produced the radio play ''Hadrian's Wall'' with text by Auden and music by Britten; it was broadcast from Newcastle on 25 November 1937. While at the BBC he also wrote one of the first plays for television, ''Edna's Fruit Hat'', which was broadcast on 27 January 1939. His first novel, ''Jacobson's Ladder'', describing literary and criminal life in 1930s
Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...
, appeared in 1938.


War poetry

It was the advent 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 ...
that enabled Pudney to find his subject, the effect that war has on the lives of ordinary people, and with it his audience.''The Times'' obituary, 11 November 1977, p 17 In 1940 he was commissioned into the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
as an intelligence officer and as a member of the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
's Creative Writers Unit, a noncombatant role. It was while he was serving as squadron intelligence officer at
RAF St Eval Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command, southwest of Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south wes ...
in Cornwall that he wrote one of the best-known poems of the war. ''For Johnny'' evoked popular fellow-feeling in the London of 1941. Written during an air raid, it was published first in the ''News Chronicle'' and (with ''Missing'', another poem by Pudney) later featured significantly in the film ''
The Way to the Stars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. Two poems supposedly written by one of the main characters, Squadron Leader David Archdale, are used in ''
The Way to the Stars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. Archdale is portrayed reciting ''Missing'' to his wife shortly before their marriage, after a close friend is killed in action. Archdale tells his wife that "I try and say things I feel that way sometimes. Sort of hobby" and tells her she's the only one who knows he writes poetry. ''Missing'' Less said the better. The bill unpaid, the dead letter, No roses at the end, Of Smith, my friend. Last words don't matter, And there are none to flatter Words will not fill the post Of Smith, the ghost. For Smith, our brother, Only son of loving mother, The ocean lifted, stirred Leaving no word. ''For Johnny'' is depicted in ''
The Way to the Stars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' as having been found by a close friend on a piece of paper after David Archdale's death on a raid. He gives it to Archdale's widow, who later in the film gives it to an American flyer to read after another American friend of hers is killed. ''For Johnny'' Do not despair For Johnny-head-in-air; He sleeps as sound As Johnny underground. Fetch out no shroud For Johnny-in-the-cloud; And keep your tears For him in after years. Better by far For Johnny-the-bright-star, To keep your head And see his children fed. Pudney published several collections of poetry during the war, including ''Dispersal Point'' (1942) and ''South of Forty'' (1943), the latter describing his experiences in
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. Both collections sold over 250,000 copies between them.White, Michael. 'Johnny Head-in-Air', in ''The Guardian'', 6 April 1972, p 10 One contemporary reviewer noted that the poems were "immediately topical and intended to reach a less poetically sophisticated audience", and that they showed "how completely he has succeeded in combining the journalist and the poet. That is no easy matter, for the one usually swamps the other".


Later career

In the general election of July 1945, Pudney stood as the Labour Party candidate for
Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...
, polling 14,947 votes, or 36%. (The sitting Conservative MP
Charles Ponsonby Sir Charles Edward Ponsonby, 1st Baronet DL (2 September 1879 – 28 January 1976), was a British conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1935 to 1950. A member of the prominent Ponsonby family, he was the son of the Hon. E ...
was re-elected, with 46% of the vote). After the war, he continued to write and worked as a journalist and editor. He was the book critic for the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' from 1945 and with the ''
News Review ''News Review'' was a British news magazine, first published by Cosmopolitan Press in 1936. Its publishers, who also launched ''Cavalcade'' around the same time, envisaged ''News Review'' as a competitor to the U.S. ''Time'' magazine. It was la ...
'' from 1948 to 1950. He then shifted into publishing, as a director and literary adviser to
Evans Brothers Evans Brothers Ltd (or Evans Brothers Limited) was a British publishing house that was part of the Evans Publishing Group UK. The firm first published teacher training materials and in later years broadened its catalogue, publishing children's bo ...
, Ltd (1950–1953) and Putnam & Co Ltd (1953–1963). At Evans, Pudney bolstered the company's long-standing children's catalogue with his own boys adventures, the 11 volume 'Fred and I' series (''Monday Adventure'', ''Spring Adventure'' etc.). One of them, ''Thursday Adventure'' (1955) was filmed as ''
The Stolen Airliner ''The Stolen Airliner'' is a 1955 British Children's Film Foundation production, directed by Don Sharp and starring Fella Edmonds, Diana Day, and Michael Maguire. It was based on John Pudney's adventure story for boys, ''Thursday Adventure'' (1 ...
'' (1955). They featured classic front cover and internal illustrations by artists such as Ley Kenyon (1913–1990) and
Douglas Relf Douglas Rupert Relf (November 1907 - April 1970) was a British artist who became well known for his work for the British Railways Western Region, and for his illustrations and dust jackets for many children's books from multiple publishers in the ...
. The later six volumes of Hartwarp adventures for younger children were published by Hamish Hamilton. Both series were popular and sold well in the 1950s and 1960s, but they have gone out of print. More significantly, while at Evans Pudney commissioned the Australian fighter pilot and prisoner-of-war
Paul Brickhill Paul Chester Jerome Brickhill (20 December 191623 April 1991) was an Australian fighter pilot, prisoner of war, and author who wrote ''The Great Escape (book), The Great Escape'', ''The Dam Busters (book), The Dam Busters'', and ''Reach for the ...
to come to England and write '' The Great Escape'', which Evans published in 1950; it attracted much attention. He had suggested to the Air Historical Branch of the British Air Ministry that Brickhill should be considered as the author of a history of
617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastis ...
. After the success of ''The Great Escape'', it was also published by Evans as '' The Dam Busters'' (1951), which sold over one million copies in its first 50 years. Of his novels, ''The Net'' (1952, set in an aeronautical research station) and ''Thin Air'' (1961) were well received. ''The Net'' was filmed by director
Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...
in 1953. The same year Pudney wrote the script for the documentar
''Elizabeth is Queen''
for Associated British Pathé, which received a BAFTA award. Between 1949 and 1963, he edited an annual anthology called ''Pick of Today's Short Stories''. Commissioned non-fiction (particularly aeronautical) became an important source of income for Pudney in his later years. Among these works were a history of the British state airline
B.O.A.C. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
(''The Seven Skies'', 1959), and of
Courage Brewery Courage Brewery was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England. History Courage & Co Ltd was started by John Courage at the Anchor Brewhouse in Horsleydown, Bermondsey in 1787. He was a Scottish shipping agent of Fr ...
(''A Draught of Contentment'' (1971). However, poetry remained the most important to him. His later work, from the collection ''Spill Out'' (1967) onward, took on a more ironic stance but was still vernacular, rather than academic, a period reflected in his second Selected Poems collection of 1973. One of his book blurbs describes him as "a poet who just missed being an intellectual". His final two poems appeared in the ''Times Literary Supplement'' a few days after his death.


Private life

On 30 October 1934 Pudney married the Fabian feminist Crystal Selwyn Herbert (1915–1999), the daughter of
A. P. Herbert Sir Alan Patrick Herbert CH (A. P. Herbert, 24 September 1890 – 11 November 1971), was an English humorist, novelist, playwright, law reformist, and in 1935–1950 an independent Member of Parliament for Oxford University. Born in Ashtead, Su ...
, a writer and
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
. They first lived in Cornwall in a converted lifeboat, then took a farm in Essex. There were two daughters and a son. They divorced in 1955, and Pudney immediately married his second wife, Monica Forbes Curtis of the
Forbes family The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins—they are a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China ...
. She helped him recover from his alcoholism, to which he publicly confessed in 1965 and emerged cured in 1967 – despite a hit-and-run accident in the middle that broke both his legs and dislocated his shoulder. The recovery process became a subject for his writing. According to Michael White ''Spill Out'' was written "half of it on the booze and half off, and he didn't remember which half was which". In 1976 Pudney developed cancer of the throat from which he died nearly two years later in much pain. He wrote about his illness unflinchingly in his autobiographical ''Thank Goodness for Cake'', posthumously published in 1978. John Pudney's daughter Tessa (1942–2004) was an academic best known for her work in media studies at
Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...
. She married the film critic Victor Perkins in the 1960s. Their son,
Toby Perkins Matthew Toby Perkins (born 12 August 1970) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chesterfield since 2010. He has been Shadow Minister for Apprentices and Lifelong Learning since April 2020. Prev ...
, is the
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
.


Works


Poetry

*''Spring Encounter'' (1933) *''Open the Sky'' (
Boriswood Boriswood Limited was a small London publishing house which was active from 1931 until 1938. The directors, at various times, were Cecil J Greenwood, Kenneth W Marshall, John Morris and the New Zealander Terence T Bond. It also incorporated anothe ...
1934) *''Dispersal Point and other Air Poems'' (1942) *''The Grass Grew All Round'' (1942) *''Beyond This Disregard'' (1943) *''South of Forty'' (1943) *''Ten Summers'': Poems 1933–1943 (1944) *''Almanack of Hope'': Sonnets (1944) *''Air Force Poetry'' (1944) (anthology, edited with
Henry Treece Henry Treece (22 December 1911 – 10 June 1966) was a British poet and writer who also worked as a teacher and editor. He wrote a range of works but is mostly remembered as a writer of children's historical novels. Life and work Treece wa ...
) *''Flight above Cloud'' (1944) *''World Still There'' (1945) *Selected Poems (1946) *''Low Life'' (1947) *''Commemorations'' (1948) *''Sixpenny Songs'' (1953) *Collected Poems (1957) *''The Trampoline'' (1959) *''Spill Out'': Poems and Ballads (1967) *''Spandrels'': Poems and Ballads (1969) *''Take This Orange'': Poems and Ballads (1971) *Selected Poems 1967–1973 (1973) *''Living in a One-Sided House'' (1976) *''Writers' Workshop'', poetry anthology publication, editor with Norman Hidden and Michael Johnson (from 1967)Durham University
Norman Hidden Collection
/ref>


Novels

*''Jacobson's Ladder'' (1938) *''Estuary, a Romance'' (1947) *''Shuffley Wanderers'' (1948) *''The Accomplice'' (1950) *''Hero of a Summer's Day'' (1951) *'' The Net'' (1952) *''A Ring for Luck'' (1953) *''Trespass in the Sun'' (1957) *''Thin Air'' (1961) *''Tunnel to the Sky'' (1965) *''The Long Time Growing Up'' (1971)


Short stories

*''And Lastly the Fireworks'' (
Boriswood Boriswood Limited was a small London publishing house which was active from 1931 until 1938. The directors, at various times, were Cecil J Greenwood, Kenneth W Marshall, John Morris and the New Zealander Terence T Bond. It also incorporated anothe ...
1935) *''Uncle Arthur and other stories'' (1939) *''Edna's Fruit Hat'' (1946) *''It Breathed Down My Neck'' (1946) (selected short stories) *''The Europeans'': Fourteen tales of a Continent (1948) *''The Pick of Today's Short Stories'', 14 volumes (1949–1963), anthologies, editor


For Children

*''Saturday Adventure'' (1950) "a story for boys" *''Sunday Adventure'' (1951) *''Monday Adventure: The Secrets of Blackmead Abbey'' (1952) *''Tuesday Adventure: The Affray in the Sardanger Fjord '' (1953) *''Wednesday Adventure'' (1954) *''Thursday Adventure: The Stolen Airliner'' (1955) *''Friday Adventure'' (1956) *''The Grandfather Clock'' (1957) * ''Crossing the Road'' (1958) *''Spring Adventure'' (1961) *''Summer Adventure'' (1962) *''The Hartwarp Light Railway'' (1962) *''The Hartwarp Balloon'' (1963) *''The Hartwarp Circus'' (1963) *''The Hartwarp Bakehouse'' (1964) *''Autumn Adventure'' (1964) *''The Hartwarp Explosion'' (1965) *''Winter Adventure'' (1965) *''The Hartwarp Jets'' (1967)


Autobiographical

*''The Green Grass Grew All Round'' (1942) *''Who Only England Know'' (1943) *''Home & Away – An Autobiographical Gambit'' (1960) *''Thank Goodness for Cake'' (1978)


Non Fiction

* ''The Air Battle of Malta'' (1944) (
HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...
Information Books) * ''Atlantic Bridge'' (1945) (HMSO Information Books) * ''World Still There'' (1945) *''Laboratory of the Air'':The Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough (1948) (HMSO) * ''Music on the South Bank:'' An Appreciation of The Royal Festival Hall (1951) *''His Majesty King George VI'' (1952) *''The Thomas Cook Story'' (1953) *''The Queen's People'' (1953), photographs by
Izis Bidermanas Israëlis Bidermanas (17 January 1911 – 16 May 1980 in Paris), who worked under the name of Izis, was a Lithuanian-Jewish photographer who worked in France and is best known for his photographs of French circuses and of Paris. Biography Born in ...
*''The Smallest Room'': a Discreet Survey Through the Ages (1954) * ''Six Great Aviators'' (1955) *''The Book of Leisure'' (1957) editor *''The Leisure-Hour Companion'' (1959) *''The Seven Skies'' (1959), history of B.O.A.C. *''A Pride of Unicorns'':
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
and David Atcherley of the R.A.F. (1960) *''Bristol Fashion''. Some Account of the Earlier Days of Bristol Aviation (1960) *''The Camel Fighter'' (1964) *''The Golden Age of Stea''m (1967) *''Flight and Flying'' (1968) editor *''Suez: De Lesseps' Canal'' (1968) *''A Draught of Contentment''. The Story of the Courage Group.(1971) *''Crossing London's River'': the Bridges, Ferries and Tunnels Crossing the Thames Tideway in London (1972) *''Brunel and His World'' (1974) *''London's Docks'' (1975) *''Lewis Carroll and His World'' (1976) *''John Wesley and His World'' (1978)


References


Biographical Sketch of John Pudney at the University of Texas


External links


John Pudney at the National Portrait GalleryJohn Pudney entry in SFE The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudney, John 1909 births 1977 deaths People educated at Gresham's School People from Slough Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates 20th-century British poets British male poets English children's writers 20th-century English male writers Royal Air Force officers