Post by Catsmate on Aug 31, 2020 11:57:47 GMT
Few people these days have heard of Bernard Charles Newman, a mostly forgotten British author (he wrote more than 100 books), historian, traveller and expert on espionage. But he's one of those interesting characters, always on the periphery of events, who could easily appear in a historical setting.
He was born in May of 1897 in Ibstock in Leicestershire and was a great-nephew of the nineteenth century author 'George Eliot' (Mary Ann Evan). In 1914 he enlisted under-age and was a junior NCO, corporal and later sergeant, for most of his activities. He ended the war as a staff sergeant.
It was during the Great War that he developed his connections to the intelligence and espionage apparatus, mainly down to his fluency in French. He and a female French agent would ramble through Paris, listening to the casual talk of by Allied soldiers about troop movements, as part of an attempt to preserve operational secrecy. This triggered his life long interest in espionage, which was never (officially) official but purely a personal interest. In 1928 he published a fictionalised account of his activities (Spy) that was banned in Germany and used as a textbook in the USSR. Officially this was entirely fictional and his war service was routine.
Of course that's exactly what a spy would be expected to say......
During the inter-war years he worked as a civil servant with the Ministry of Works, though he travelled, wrote and lectured extensively.
During the period he gained some attention with an early 'alternate history' novel of the Great War, The Cavalry Went Through, though Spy was far more popular, being reprinted eleven times between 1935 and 1938.
At the start of World War 2 Newman was in France where he witnessed the German invasion, but made his way back to Britain. For the duration of the war Newman was, officially, a writer, lecturer and broadcaster for the Ministry of Information (he wrote several 'patriotic' novels including Siegfried Spy, Death to the Fifth Column and Secret Weapon)
He spent much of 1942 in Canada and the United States, lecturing in Britain and the war. He met President Franklin Roosevelt and numerous other politicians, generals and officials (he'd met Hitler years earlier) during his lectures and was broadcast extensively on radio.
After the war Newman continued writing; he also considered an authority on espionage. He also wrote a number of works of science fiction. One of the earliest of these was The Flying Saucer in 1948 where an apparent threat from an alien race (including a spacecraft crashing in the New Mexico desert) cause the Great Powers to create a scientific group to study the crisis. This leads to the external threat unifying the normally hostile nations.
BTW Newman himself appears as a character in the book.
He later wrote The Blue Ants about a Sino-Soviet nuclear war.
Game Use.
Newman is one of those unassuming people who had the knack of ending up in odd places. One classic example is his discover of the German rocket programme in 1938.
In September 1938 Newman was cycling around the Baltic researching the book that would become Baltic Roundabout. On the island of Rugen He accidentally strayed into a restricted area, where he was arrested and removed from the district. However his observations of the large concrete structures built there and conversations with local villagers about the strange noises they'd heard led him to theorise that rocket experiments were being carried out. This he reported back in London.
There is no evidence that Newman was ever an official spy, but he was an enthusiastic amateur who regularly reported back to London after his travels.
Of course he could have been involved with Torchwood (who don't seem his style), or LONGBOW and after the war he could have become involved in the events that caused the formation of the ICMG and later UNIT.
He was born in May of 1897 in Ibstock in Leicestershire and was a great-nephew of the nineteenth century author 'George Eliot' (Mary Ann Evan). In 1914 he enlisted under-age and was a junior NCO, corporal and later sergeant, for most of his activities. He ended the war as a staff sergeant.
It was during the Great War that he developed his connections to the intelligence and espionage apparatus, mainly down to his fluency in French. He and a female French agent would ramble through Paris, listening to the casual talk of by Allied soldiers about troop movements, as part of an attempt to preserve operational secrecy. This triggered his life long interest in espionage, which was never (officially) official but purely a personal interest. In 1928 he published a fictionalised account of his activities (Spy) that was banned in Germany and used as a textbook in the USSR. Officially this was entirely fictional and his war service was routine.
I am not a spy, I have never been a spy and I don't suppose I shall ever become one. I have never met the King, the Kaiser, Ludendorff, Hindenberg or Lloyd George. I did not win the DSO nor was I as much as half an inch behind the German lines during the war. I am trying to devise a new kind of thriller. I believe I have succeeded. I quite agree that there are plenty of people who might believe it, but I believe the intelligent reader will treat t book exactly as he would a good detective story.
During the inter-war years he worked as a civil servant with the Ministry of Works, though he travelled, wrote and lectured extensively.
- A couple of good ways for the PCs to meet him. He visited at least sixty countries between 1920 and 1938, usually cycling alone, so he might easily be bumped into. Or the PCs might drift in to one of his lectures and have their interest piqued by an obscure reference.
During the period he gained some attention with an early 'alternate history' novel of the Great War, The Cavalry Went Through, though Spy was far more popular, being reprinted eleven times between 1935 and 1938.
At the start of World War 2 Newman was in France where he witnessed the German invasion, but made his way back to Britain. For the duration of the war Newman was, officially, a writer, lecturer and broadcaster for the Ministry of Information (he wrote several 'patriotic' novels including Siegfried Spy, Death to the Fifth Column and Secret Weapon)
He spent much of 1942 in Canada and the United States, lecturing in Britain and the war. He met President Franklin Roosevelt and numerous other politicians, generals and officials (he'd met Hitler years earlier) during his lectures and was broadcast extensively on radio.
After the war Newman continued writing; he also considered an authority on espionage. He also wrote a number of works of science fiction. One of the earliest of these was The Flying Saucer in 1948 where an apparent threat from an alien race (including a spacecraft crashing in the New Mexico desert) cause the Great Powers to create a scientific group to study the crisis. This leads to the external threat unifying the normally hostile nations.
Sometimes I think the people of this distracted planet will never really get together until they find someone in Mars to get mad against. Anthony Eden
He later wrote The Blue Ants about a Sino-Soviet nuclear war.
Game Use.
Newman is one of those unassuming people who had the knack of ending up in odd places. One classic example is his discover of the German rocket programme in 1938.
In September 1938 Newman was cycling around the Baltic researching the book that would become Baltic Roundabout. On the island of Rugen He accidentally strayed into a restricted area, where he was arrested and removed from the district. However his observations of the large concrete structures built there and conversations with local villagers about the strange noises they'd heard led him to theorise that rocket experiments were being carried out. This he reported back in London.
There is no evidence that Newman was ever an official spy, but he was an enthusiastic amateur who regularly reported back to London after his travels.
Of course he could have been involved with Torchwood (who don't seem his style), or LONGBOW and after the war he could have become involved in the events that caused the formation of the ICMG and later UNIT.