Peter Elstob

Peter Frederick Egerton Elstob (22 December 1915 – 21 July 2002) was a British soldier, adventurer, novelist, military historian and entrepreneur. Biography Peter Elstob was born in London, UK on 22 December 1915. 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.

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 Medals. As part of the 11th Armoured Division 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.

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 to seek the release of Wole Soyinka during the Biafran Civil War. 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, 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 he had met on his travels, but his friends and associates believed it was largely autobiographical.

Published works 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.