Cecil Echlin Gerahty (1888 – 13 May 1938) was an English journalist for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. Born in Hampton Wick in 1888, his parents were George Marsh and his wife Laura. His younger brothers were the author Digby George Gerahty and the actor Leslie Marsh Gerahty. From 31 August 1915, Gerahty served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, with the rank of lieutenant and in 1919 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 ...

for his services in action against enemy submarines off Gibraltar. After the war, between 1924 and 1936, he sailed from the UK to

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the ca ...

, Morocco, on eleven occasions, and also to Gibraltar in 1937. His occupation was recorded as Shipping Agent and then later in 1931 as journalist. In 1925 he was accompanied by Irene Winifred Gerahty (aged 35) and Esmond Echlin Gerahty (aged 1). His address was given as 27 Cresswell Road,

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...

and later 12 St James Square, London. Esmond was attending Marlborough House School,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, in 1933. In 1937 he gave a talk on the BBC on "My Friends the Moors". He was author of ''The Road to Madrid'' about the rise of

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

and the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. The ''Daily Mail'' was staunchly pro-Franco and Gerahty was a key apologist for the Nationalists in their attempt to refute the

bombing of Guernica On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica (''Gernika'' in Basque) was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe ...

. He travelled extensively around Nationalist Spain and made a shortwave propaganda broadcast on behalf of the Nationalists. He also published documents, later shown to be forgeries, alleging that radical insurrections were being planned at the time that the army revolted. He died on 13 May 1938 at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lond ...

. His wife Irene died 1971 in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

.''England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes''. London, England. Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007. Apr 1971, Registration District:Eastbourne, Sussex. Volume:5h, Page:626

Publications

Gerahty, Cecil. (1937). ''The Road to Madrid'', London: Hutchinson William Foss, Cecil Gerahty. (1938). ''The Spanish Arena'', London: Right Book Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerahty, Cecil Echlin 1888 births 1938 deaths People from Hampton, London British newspaper journalists