Jerrard Tickell

Edward Jerrard Tickell (1905–1966) was an Irish writer, known for his novels and World War II historical books.

Biography

Tickell was born in Dublin and educated in Tipperary and London. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941, when he was appointed to the War Office. Between 1943 and 1945 his official duties took him to Africa, the Middle East, Washington DC, Canada, the West Indies and Europe. He was appointed to the General Staff in 1945.

He was married to the author and spiritualist Renée Haynes, the daughter of E.S.P. Haynes and Oriana Huxley Waller (a granddaughter of Thomas Henry Huxley) and they had three sons: Crispin, Patrick, and Tom.

Tickell wrote 21 novels,^[1] including the bestselling Appointment with Venus (1951), which was made into a film of the same name starring David Niven and a 1962 Danish film Venus fra Vestø.^[2]

His non-fiction work includes a memoir of SOE agent Odette Hallowes, an account of No. 138 Squadron RAF (the "moon squadron"), and a history of "Ascalon", Winston Churchill's personal Avro York transport aircraft.

Scandal

A book, The West End Front (published in 2011) by Matthew Sweet, gives details, summarised by The Sunday Times in a review:

"A less appealing character was the novelist Jerrard Tickell, whose girlfriend died in a blood-soaked bed in the Mount Royal Hotel (now the Thistle Marble Arch) after a botched abortion by a quack. The police had no doubt Tickell was responsible for the pregnancy and for arranging its termination, but he was acquitted of manslaughter while the quack got five years. Sweet takes credit for unearthing the details of the case, and recounts how he broke the news of this rediscovered chapter of family history to Jerrard's son Sir Crispin, formerly Britain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations."^[3]

Publications

Non-fiction

• Odette: The Story of a British Agent (1949)
• Moon Squadron (1956)
• Ascalon: The Story of Sir Winston Churchill's Wartime Flights from 1943 to 1945 (1964)

Fiction

• Yolan of the Plains (1928)
• See How They Run (1936)
• Fly Away Blackbird (1936)
• Silk Purse (1937)
• Jill Fell Down (1938)
• Gentlewomen Aim to Please (1938)
• At Dusk All Cats Are Grey (1940)
• Soldier from the Wars Returning (1942)
• Appointment with Venus (1951)
• The Hand and Flower (1952)
• Dark Adventure (1952)
• The Dart Players (1953)
• The Hero of Saint Roger (1954)
• Miss May: The Story of an Englishwoman (1958)
• Whither Do You Wander? (1959)
• The Hunt for Richard Thorpe (1960)
• Villa Mimosa (1960)
• Hussar Honeymoon (1963)
• High Water at Four (1965)

See also

• Huxley family

References

1. Fantastic Fiction
2. Venus fra Vestø at the Internet Movie Database
3. John Carey, "Tale of Two Cities", The Sunday Times, October 30, 2011