John Brophy

John Brophy (6 December 1899 – 13 November 1965) was a British soldier, journalist and author who wrote more than 40 books, mostly based on his experiences during World War I.

Brophy was born in Liverpool in Lancashire in 1899 of Irish descent, the son of John Brophy, an earthenware dealer, and his wife Agnes, née Bodell. He lied about his age to join the British Army during World War I aged just 14, serving for four years in the infantry before being honourably discharged in 1918. After the War he attended the University of Liverpool financed by a government grant and where he took his BA in 1922 before attending Durham University for a year where he studied Psychoanalysis and took a Certificate in Education in 1923.

John Brophy died of heart failure at the Royal Waterloo Hospital in Lambeth, London in November 1965.

Selected novels The Bitter End (1928) Waterfront (1934) Gentleman of Stratford (1939) Green Glory (1940) Green Ladies (1940) Immortal Sergeant (1942) Spear Head (1943) Target Island (1944) Portrait of an Unknown Lady (1945) Julian’s Way (1949) Turn the Key Softly (1951) The Nimble Rabbit (1955) Soldier of the Queen (1957) (Green Glory (1940) and Green Ladies (1940) combined into single volume and revised by author) The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1959)