Arthur Horace Swinson (1915–1970) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, writer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. A prolific playwright, he authored more than 300 works. Swinson was born in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, to Hugh Swinson and Lilla Fisher Swinson. He attended St Albans School. He enlisted in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in 1939 and in 1940 was commissioned into the

Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment ...

. In the Far East, he fought at the 1944

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Imperial Japan, Japanese Operation U-Go, U-Go offensive into British Raj, India in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 19 ...

as a staff captain with the British 5th Brigade, which commanded the 7th Battalion of his regiment. The diaries he kept during the battle are now lodged in the Imperial War Museum. He served until 1946, with postings in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1949, he subsequently became a writer and producer at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

where he produced a number of programmes for

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

. In 1965, Swinson wrote a book about the

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...

entitled ''Six Minutes to Sunset: The Story of General Dyer and the Amritsar Affair'' which aimed to justify

Reginald Dyer Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, (9 October 186423 July 1927) was a British military officer in the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began in the regular British Army, but he soon transf ...

's actions, claiming they were influenced by a fear of an invasion from Afghanistan and a desire to protect European women. In 1966, Swinson wrote and published "Kohima," an account of the

which was fought from April to June 1944 and in which he was a participant. The preface states that Field Marshal William Slim directed Swinson to ensure that Kohima and Imphal are described as twin battles fought under Slim's 14th Army. This Swinson does. Ultimately, however, the book focuses on the experience of the

British 2nd Infantry Division The 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army that was formed and disestablished numerous times between 1809 and 2012. It was raised by Lieutenant General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Art ...

. The book is a good adjunct to Slim's "Defeat into Victory" and Masters' "Road Past Mandalay." Swinson was the author of ''Scotch on the Rocks'' (1963 and 2005), which told the true story of the wartime wreck of the SS ''Politician'', on which

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of t ...

's novel '' Whisky Galore'' (1947) – and the

Ealing Comedy The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...

of the same title – were based. He died in Spain while on vacation, aged 55. He was survived by his wife, Joyce Budgen, and their three children.

References

Bibliography

* ''Six Minutes to Sunset''. Peter Davies 1964 * ''Writing for Television Today''. A & C Black 1965 * ''Sergeant Corks Casebook''. Arrow 1965 * ''Casebook of Medical Detection''. Peter Davies 1965 * ''North-West Frontier''. Frederick A. Praeger, New York/Washington 1967 * ''Siege of Saragoda''. Corgi Books * ''The Raiders: Desert Strike Force''. 1968; Ballantine 1972 * ''The Great Air Race''. Cassell 1968 * ''Four Samurai : A Quartet of Japanese Army Commanders in the Second World War''. Hutchinson 1968 * ''Commanders in the Second World War''. Hutchinson 1968 * ''The Memoirs of Private Waterfield''. Cassell 1968 (with Donald Scott) * ''Defeat in Malaya – the Fall of Singapore''. Ballantine, New York 1970 * ''Scotch on the Rocks''. Reprinted Luath Press 2005 * ''The Temple''. Michael Joseph 1970 * ''Defeat in Malaya: The Fall of Singapore''. Ballantine 1970 * ''Frederick Sander: The Orchid King''. Hodder & Stoughton 1970 * ''Beyond the Frontiers: The Biography of Colonel F. M. Bailey, Explorer and Special Agent''. Hutchinson 1971 * ''A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army''. Archive Press 1972 * ''Wingate in Peace and War an account of the Chindit Commander''. MacDonald 1972 * ''Mountbatten''. Pan/Ballantine 1973 * ''Guadalcanal: Island Ordeal''. Ballantine 1973 {{DEFAULTSORT:Swinson, Arthur 1915 births 1970 deaths English historians British Army personnel of World War II Worcestershire Regiment officers English dramatists and playwrights People from St Albans Rifle Brigade soldiers English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Military personnel from Hertfordshire