Robert Holles (1926–1999), was a British author and TV and film screenwriter. Holles was the son of a

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in the ...

, and enlisted 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 ...

as a boy soldier at 14. He served in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

as an armourer (information taken from the book by Robert Holles 'Captain Cat') sergeant with the 1st battalion of the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

, and saw action during the

Battle of Imjin The Battle of the Imjin River ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog Imjin), also known as the Battle of Solma-ri ( ko, 설마리 전투) or Battle of Gloster Hill () in South Korea, or as Battle of Xuemali () in China, took place 22–25 April 1951 during th ...

in 1951, one of "The Glorious Glosters" greatest battle honours. Holles became an author often writing on military life but not limited to this alone. Holles was prolific in the 1960s and '70s, he wrote with wry humour in such works as ''Religion and Davey Peach'', and experimented with the horror genre in ''Spawn'' amongst his non-fiction books he wrote on his experiences with Soldiering (''The Guide to Real Subversive Soldiering''). Holles lived for many years in the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

village of

Stebbing Stebbing is a small village in the Uttlesford district of northern Essex, England. The village is situated north of the ancient Roman road Stane Street. It is from the nearest railway station (), and from nearest airport (London Stansted). Th ...

and was a keen village cricketer there which was reflected in his book ''The Guide to Real Village Cricket''. As well as published works he was a successful TV writer with credits for ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' and ''Hine'', as well as ''one-offs'' for the prestigious ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' slot on the BBC's main TV channel (''Michael Regan'' and ''The Vanishing Army''), two episodes for ''The Man Outside'' (Drama series, BBC 1972) and several plays in Thames TV's

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canadi ...

series. Also amongst his credits was the screenplay for the 1964 award-winning film ''

Guns at Batasi ''Guns at Batasi'' is a 1964 British drama film starring Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Flora Robson, John Leyton and Mia Farrow. The film is based on the 1962 novel ''The Siege of Battersea'' by Robert Holles and was directed by John Gu ...

'' (based on his own novel ''The Siege of Battersea'').

References

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

External links

* 1926 births 1999 deaths British male screenwriters Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of the Korean War 20th-century British screenwriters {{UK-writer-stub