Peter Frederick Egerton Elstob (22 December 1915 – 21 July 2002) was a British soldier, adventurer, novelist, military historian and entrepreneur. In his writing, he is best known for his lightly-fictionalized novel ''
Warriors For the Working Day'' (1960) and his military history of the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
, ''Hitler's Last Offensive'' (1971). He joined the
Republican Army in the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, and later served in the
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...
in World War II, in which service he was promoted to sergeant and was
Mentioned in Dispatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
. He joined
International PEN
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...
in 1962 and served first as general secretary and later as vice-president for seven years during the 1970s, rescuing the organisation from financial failure; he also secured the future of the
Arts Theatre Club in London in 1946. He prospered as an entrepreneur with a facial product called Yeast Pac, with several partners. In his obituary in
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
newspaper, Elstob was said to be
Biography
Peter Elstob was born in London, UK on 22 December 1915, in the midst of WW I. His father, Frederick, was a
chartered accountant whose work drew him and his family first to Calcutta and then to the United States in the immediate aftermath of the war. The family struggled in the US because Frederick's credentials as a CA were not recognised there.
Peter attended school in New York and New Jersey, graduating from Summit High School in 1934. Although he remained proudly British, he retained an American accent to the end of his life.
[
Following high school, Elstob began a series of escapades that showed his signature taste for adventure and unconventionality:]Then, for no particular reason – except, perhaps, his life-long antagonism to authority – he ran away from home and signed on as a ship's bellboy. In Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, he jumped ship, found a job and got engaged to the boss's daughter. His father tracked him down and persuaded him to go to the University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, but Elstob failed his freshman's year and got into trouble with the police. He was then sent to England with instructions to join the army. A letter of introduction to a friend of his father's led to a short service commission in the RAF
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 ...
.
His stint in the RAF was short; he was dismissed after five months for stunt flying. After several odd jobs, he decided to volunteer as a pilot for the Republicans in Spain. Shortly after his arrival he was arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of spying. He was eventually freed and sent to France due to the intervention of Medora Leigh-Smith, a young Labour Party official he had met in England; his experiences gave him the material for his first novel, ''The Spanish Prisoner'' (1939). In France, Leigh-Smith found she was pregnant, and the couple soon married.[
On the outbreak of World War II, Elstob applied to rejoin the RAF, but after a long delay he was turned down. He then volunteered with the Royal Tank Regiment, eventually becoming a tank commander.][Peter Elstob; ''Bastogne: the road block''; Ballantine Books, New York, 1968; inside front cover] After serving with the 3rd Battalion in India, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Libya, his battalion went to the UK for re-training, and he was assigned as radio operator to Sergeant "Buck" Kite, a winner of three Military Medal
The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...
s. As part of the 11th Armoured Division
The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armou ...
he fought in Normandy, Belgium, the Battle of the Bulge, and in Germany. Elstob was convinced that his rejection by the RAF and his inability to rise above the rank of sergeant was due to his efforts in Spain and supposed communist sympathies.[ His experiences in the Northwest European campaign gave him the material for his best-known novel, '' Warriors For the Working Day'' (1960).
During his "odd job" period before the war, Elstob met Arnold "Bushy" Eiloart in ]Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, and during the war they formed a business partnership, marketing a beauty mask product called Yeast Pac, concocted with the help of Eiloart's wife, Mary. The product proved popular for many years and made both families financially secure.[ Following the war they partnered on several other ventures. The first was a writers' and artists' colony in Mexico. It was here that Elstob met artist Barbara Morton Zacheisz; in 1953, he and Leigh-Smith were divorced and he married Morton Zacheisz. The next venture was in 1958, an attempted trans-Atlantic ]balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...
flight, with Elstob as manager and Eiloart as captain. While the attempt failed after 1,200 miles, Eiloart and his crew of three were able to make Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
in their twin-hulled gondola. This adventure led to the non-fiction book ''The Flight of the Small World'' (1959).[
During the 1960s Elstob joined the English centre of International PEN, the worldwide association of writers, quickly gaining a place on the executive committee and becoming press officer to the organisation. In 1967, he went to ]Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
to seek the release of Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
during the Biafran Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
. During the following years he became more involved in PEN, eventually becoming its secretary-general and then vice-president over a seven-year term, placing the organisation on a firm financial footing.[ He was unpaid for this work, and neglected his own writing for the sake of the organisation. He was able to retire from his position in 1981, relocating to the ]New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
, but he continued to attend International PEN conferences.[
In 1971, Elstob's best regarded military history, ''Hitler's Last Offensive'', on the Battle of the Bulge, was published. Elstob was one of the few British soldiers who had fought in that campaign, as part of the 29th Armoured Brigade. During this period he also wrote three popular history paperbacks for the Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II series: ''Bastogne: the road block'' (Battle book, No. 4); ''Battle of the Reichwald'' (Battle book, No. 19); and ''Condor Legion'' (Weapons book, No. 35). These are probably his best-selling works.
Elstob's writing included two other novels, ''The Armed Rehearsal'' (1960), about the Spanish Civil War, and ''Scoundrel'' (1986). He claimed that the last was based on a ]con man
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
he had met on his travels, but his friends and associates believed it was largely autobiographical.[
]
Personal life
Elstob was married to Medora Leigh-Smith from 1937 to 1953. They had five children. After their divorce he married Barbara Morton Zacheisz; they had two children.[
]
Bibliography
* ''The Spanish Prisoner'' (1939)
* ''The Flight of the Small World'' (1959)
* ''The Armed Rehearsal'' (1960)
* '' Warriors For the Working Day'' (1960)
* ''Bastogne: the road block'' (1968)
* ''Battle of the Reichwald'' (1970)
* ''Hitler's Last Offensive'' (1971)
* ''Condor Legion'' (1973)
* ''Scoundrel'' (1986)
In popular culture
The protagonist of Gail F. Borden's novel ''Easter Day 1941'' appears to be loosely based on Elstob, and his experiences in the fighting in the Western Desert in early 1941.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elstob, Peter
1915 births
2002 deaths
British historical novelists
British military historians
British military writers
Historians of World War II
English male novelists
20th-century English novelists
British Army personnel of World War II
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Royal Air Force officers
British Army soldiers