Dominick Stuart "Toby" Graham, (24 July 1920 – 8 March 2013) was a

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 ...

officer, cross-country Olympic skier and university professor. He is best known for his collaboration with British military historian

Shelford Bidwell Shelford Bidwell FRS (6 March 1848 – 18 December 1909) was an English physicist and inventor. He is best known for his work with "telephotography", a precursor to the modern fax machine. Private life He was born in Thetford, Norfolk the eldes ...

. A wartime graduate of the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, Graham served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

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 ...

. He was wounded twice, spent time as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

in Italy, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1945. After the war he served with the British Army of the Rhine, and represented Great Britain in cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After leaving the army in 1958, Graham moved to Canada, where he taught high school maths in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

. He earned his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

in 1965, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1969. He taught military history at the University of New Brunswick until his 1986 retirement, at which point he was named professor

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

, and returned to England.

Early life

Dominick Stuart Graham was born in

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

, England, on 24 July 1920, the son of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Fergus Reginald Winsford Graham and Egeria Marion Spottiswood Baker. His father was a soldier who had served in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and China. His family nicknamed him "Toby" because when he was a baby they thought he looked like Toby the Dog in Punch and Judy. He was educated at Bradfield College, and entered the

in January 1939.

Military career

Graham's training was shortened by the outbreak of the

. He graduated from Woolwich on 4 November 1939, and was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

of the

. In 1940 he was sent to

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

during the Norwegian campaign to command an anti-aircraft battery, and was wounded during an air raid. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 4 May 1941. In July 1942, Graham was serving as a Forward Observer (FOO) near

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

, Libya, during the Western Desert campaign, when his vehicle was hit, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans, and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Italy. His first escape attempt was through a sewer near

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...

, but was unsuccessful. He was then taken to a camp at Fontanellato, from which he again escaped. This time he made it as far as the railway station before he was recaptured. He was freed after the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

in September 1943, and made his way back to Allied lines through Italy, evading German patrols, and eventually reaching a village near

Ortona Ortona (Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: '; grc, Ὄρτων, Órtōn) is a coastal town and municipality of the Province of Chieti in the Italy, Italian region of Abruzzo, with some 23,000 inhabitants. In 1943 Ortona was the site of a Battle o ...

, where he was discovered by a Canadian patrol. Graham returned home to the School of Gunnery to bring his skills up to date, and then served in the

North-West Europe campaign of 1944–45 North-West Europe 1944–1945 is a battle honour (more properly known as an honorary distinction) earned by regiments of the British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War that took part in the actions of the northern part of the war's We ...

as a battery commander in the

Guards Armoured Division The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier G ...

, reaching the temporary 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 ...

. On 16 February 1945, while serving as a FOO, he was again wounded during a German counterattack, but refused to be evacuated until the attack was repelled. For this he was

mentioned in despatches 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 ...

on 22 March 1945, and awarded the

on 19 April 1945. After the war Graham served as an instructor at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

, and then as a staff officer with the

6th Armoured Division The 6th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, created in September 1940 during the Second World War and re-formed in May 1951 in the UK. History The division was formed in the United Kingdom under Northern Command on ...

in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). He commanded the British Army's first

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

-equipped artillery battery. He was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 1 July 1946, and major on 4 November 1952. He married Valerie Mary Greig on 18 October 1947; they had two daughters, Anita Caroline and Patricia Robin. He retired from the British Army on 20 December 1958.

Skiing career

Graham represented Great Britain in cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics at

in Italy, where he finished 29th of 33 competitors in the men's 50 kilometres.

Academic career

After leaving the army, Graham moved to Canada, where he taught high school mathematics in

. He earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

in 1965, writing his master's thesis on "British intervention in defence of the American colonies, 1748–1756", and a

from the

on the same topic in 1969. Graham taught military history at the University of New Brunswick until 1986, when his marriage broke up and he decided to retire and return to England. He received the news of his appointment as

while climbing K2 in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. He married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Hawson in 1991, and they settled in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, where he worked on her family estate and gardens. After she died he travelled by

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

to visit his daughter in New Zealand. The only other passenger aboard the ship was Ursula Behringer, and they were married in 2002. Graham is best known for his collaboration with British military historian

, a fellow military historian and former Royal Artillery officer, whom he first met at a bar near Sandhurst after a seminar on the use of artillery on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The two had a long and close collaboration despite living on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Their first book, ''Fire-Power'' (1982) was about the development of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

in the two world wars. Their second, ''Tug of War'' (1986), was about the Italian campaign during the Second World War. Finally, they wrote ''Coalitions, Politicians and Generals'' (1993), in which they wrote about the command and staff systems in the British, French and German armies in the two world wars. Graham also wrote an autobiography, ''The Escapes and Evasions of 'An Obstinate Bastard'' (2000). Graham died on 8 March 2013 at the age of 92.

Bibliography

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Toby 1920 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the University of London British Army personnel of World War II British military historians Cross-country skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Olympic cross-country skiers for Great Britain Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers University of New Brunswick alumni Academic staff of the University of New Brunswick English male cross-country skiers People educated at Bradfield College British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Italy English escapees Escapees from Italian detention Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel from Somerset British expatriates in Germany