Personal life
Newman was born on 8 May 1897 in Ibstock, Leicestershire, England, one of six children of Annie (Garner) and William Betteridge Newman, a cattle dealer and farmer. He was a great-nephew of the 19th century authorCareer and works
Serving in combat duringAllegations of espionage
World War I
Some of his early fiction novels, particularly ''Spy'', were written in the first person with himself as the main character. That has led to allegations that he was a spy. Newman lied about his age to enlist at 17 and clarified in his 1960 autobiography, ''Speaking From Memory'', that his war service was routine and unremarkable and that his novels were publicised in that way to achieve sales at the suggestion of his publisher, Gollancz. Correspondence between Newman and the military historian B. H. Liddell Hart held in theWorld War II
Other allegations of espionage activity relate to his extensive travels in Europe between the wars, including reports that he was the agent who first reported Hitler's V-1 rockets. In September 1938, Newman was riding around the Baltic on a bicycle, researching the book ''Baltic Roundabout''. He strayed into a restricted area on the German island of Rugen and was arrested and escorted from the district. He had noticed large concrete structures, and spoke with local villagers who reported noises resembling an express train. Reporting his findings back in London, the experts concluded that the Germans were experimenting with rockets. This information pre-dates the Oslo Report by a full year, and led to extensive research by Newman. It resulted in a radio script for the BBC program ''Now it can be told'', a novel on the Polish resistance contribution to the war effort ''They Saved London'', and the subsequent film '' Battle of the V-1''. In a reverse compliment and recognition of Newman's work, Poland have named two memorials to the Polish Resistance as "They Saved London". It is not suggested that Newman was ever employed as a spy, but that he was an enthusiastic amateur who regularly reported back to the British government in London after his travels.Bibliography
* Character Monologues and How To Perform Them ''(1926, C. Arthur Pearson)'' *Round About Andorra (1928, George, Allen & Unwin) *The Cavalry Went Through (1930, Victor Golancz) * Armoured Doves, A Peace Book (1931, Jarrolds) *The Fifth Army (1931, Hodder & Stoughton; ghost written by Bernard Newman for General Sir Hubert Gough) * Hosanna! The Remarkable Novel (1933, Dennis Archer) *Death in the Valley, a Tale Based On the Origin of the Oberammergau Passion Play (1934, Dennis Archer) *Death of a Harlot (1934, T. Werner Laurie) *In the Trail of the Three Musketeers (1934, Herbert Jenkins) * Anthology of Armageddon (1935, with Idrisyn O. Evans, Dennis Archer) *Pedalling Poland (1935, Herbert Jenkins) *Secret Servant (1935, Victor Gollancz) *Spy (1935, Victor Gollancz) * The Blue Danube: Black Forest to Black Sea (1935, Herbert Jenkins) * Albanian Back-door (1936, Herbert Jenkins) * Cycling in France (Northern) (1936, Herbert Jenkins) *German Spy (1936, Hillman-Curl) *The Mussolini Murder Plot (1936, Hutchinson) *Tunnellers, The Story of the Tunnelling Companies, Royal Engineers, During the World War ( 1936, with Captain W. Grant Grieve; Herbert Jenkins) * I Saw Spain (1937, Herbert Jenkins) *Lady Doctor Woman Spy (1937, Hutchinson) * Albanian Journey (1938, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons) * Danger Spots of Europe (1938, Robert Hale) *Death Under Gibraltar (1938, Victor Gollancz) * Ride to Russia (1938, Herbert Jenkins) *Scotland Yard Alibi (1938, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) * Baltic Roundabout (1939, Herbert Jenkins) *Cast Iron Alibi (1939, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) *Death to the Spy (1939, Victor Golancz) *Maginot Line Murder (1939, Victor Golancz) * Siegfried Spy (1939, Victor Golancz) * Savoy! Corsica! Tunis! Mussolini's Dream Lands (1940, Herbert Jenkins) *Secrets of German Espionage (1940, Robert Hale) * The Story of Poland (1940, Hutchinson) *Death to the Fifth Column (1941, Victor Golancz) * One Man's Year (1941, Victor Golancz) *Secret Weapon (1941, Victor Golancz) *Balkan Spy (1942, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) * Black Market (1942, Victor Golancz) * The New Europe (1942, Robert Hale) * American Journey (1943, Robert Hale) *The Escape of General Gerard (1943, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) * Balkan Background (1944, Robert Hale) *Second Front - First Spy (1944, Victor Golancz) *British Journey (1945, Robert Hale) *Dictator's Destiny (1945, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) * Spy Catchers (1945, collection of 31 short stories, Victor Golancz) * The Spy in the Brown Derby (1945, Victor Golancz) *Dead Man Murder (1946, Victor Golancz) * Russia's Neighbour, the New Poland (1946, Victor Gollancz) * Middle Eastern Journey (1947, Victor Golancz) *The Potsdam Murder Plot (1947, as Don Betteridge, Herbert Jenkins) * The Red Spider Web: The Story of Russian Spying in Canada (1947, Latimer House) *Baltic Background (1948, Robert Hale) *Moscow Murder (1948, Victor Golancz) *News from the East (1948, Victor Golancz) * The Captured Archives: The Story of the Nazi-Soviet Documents (1948, Herbert Jenkins) * The Flying Saucer (1948, Victor Gollancz) *Come Adventuring With Me (1949, Latimer House) * Mediterranean Background (1949, Robert Hale) *Shoot! (1949, Victor Golancz) *The Lazy Meuse (1949, Herbert Jenkins) *Cup Final Murder (1950, Victor Golancz) *Epics of Espionage (1950, Werner Laurie) *Spies Left! (1950, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) *The Sisters Alsace-Lorraine (1950, Herbert Jenkins) *Centre Court Murder (1951, Victor Golancz) *Not Single Spies (1951, as Don Betteridge, Victor Gollancz) *Oberammergau Journey (1951, Herbert Jenkins) * Turkish Crossroads (1951, Robert Hale) * Both Sides of the Pyrenees (1952, Herbert Jenkins) *Death At Lords (1952, Victor Gollancz) * Soviet Atomic Spies (1952, Robert Hale) *They Saved London (1952, Werner Laurie; adapted in 1958 as the film Battle of the V.1) * Tito's Yugoslavia (1952, Robert Hale) * Morocco Today (1953, Robert Hale) * Report on Indochina (1953, Robert Hale) * Ride to Rome (1953, Herbert Jenkins) *Spy-Counter-Spy (1953, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) *Yours for Action (1953, Civil Service Clerical Association) * Berlin and Back (1954, Herbert Jenkins) *Double Menace (1954, Robert Hale) *The Case of the Berlin Spy (1954, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) * The Sosnowski Affair: Inquest On a Spy (1954, Werner Laurie) *The Wishful Think (1954, Robert Hale) *North African Journey (1955, Robert Hale) * Still Flows the Danube (1955, Herbert Jenkins) *The Gibraltar Conspiracy (1955, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) * Inquest on Mata Hari (1956, Robert Hale) *Operation Barbarossa (1956, Robert Hale) * Real Life Spies (1956, Hutchinson) * One Hundred Years of Good Company: Published On the Occasion of the Ruston Centenary 1857 – 1957 (1957, Ruston & Hornsby) *Spain On A Shoestring (1957, Herbert Jenkins) *The Otan Plot (1957, Robert Hale) *The Three Germanies (1957, Robert Hale) *Flowers for the Living (1958, with Guy Bolton, Robert Hale) *Taken at the Flood (1958, Robert Hale) *The Spies of Peenemunde (1958, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) *Unknown Germany (1958, Herbert Jenkins) *Danger Spots of the World (1959, Robert Hale) *Portrait of Poland (1959, Robert Hale) *Visa to Russia (1959, Herbert Jenkins) *Contact Man (1960, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale) *Silver Greyhound (1960, Robert Hale) * Speaking from Memory (1960, Herbert Jenkins; autobiography) *Unknown Yugoslavia (1960, Herbert Jenkins) * Bulgarian Background (1961, Robert Hale) *Far Eastern Journey: Across India and Pakistan to Formosa (1961, Herbert Jenkins) *Let's Look At Germany (1961, Museum Press) *Presenting People Living Dangerously (1961, Paul Hamlyn) *Mr. Kennedy's America (1962, Herbert Jenkins) * The Blue Ants: The First Authentic Account of the Russian-Chinese War of 1970 (1962, Robert Hale) *The Package Holiday Spy Case (1962, as Don Betteridge, Robert Hale)) *The World of Espionage (1962, Souvenir Press) *This Is Your Life (1963, Robert Hale) *Unknown France (1963, Herbert Jenkins) * Behind the Berlin Wall (1964, Robert Hale) *Round the World in Seventy Days (1964, Herbert Jenkins) *Spies in Britain (1964, Robert Hale) *The Travelling Executioners (1964, Robert Hale) * Background to Vietnam (1965, Robert Hale) *Let's Visit France (1965, Burke Publishing) *Let's Visit Malaysia and Her Neighbours (1965, Burke Publishing) *South African Journey (1965, Herbert Jenkins) *The Spy At No. 10 (1965, Robert Hale) * Evil Phoenix (1966, Robert Hale) *Spain Revisited (1966, Herbert Jenkins) *Draw the Dragon's Teeth (1967, Robert Hale) *Let's Visit South Africa (1967, Burke Publishing) *Let's Visit Vietnam (1967, Burke Publishing) *The Bosworth Story (1967, Herbert Jenkins) *The Dangerous Age (1967, Robert Hale) *To Russia and Back (1967, Herbert Jenkins) *Portrait of the Shires (1968, Robert Hale) *The Jail Breakers (1968, Robert Hale) *The New Poland (1968, Robert Hale) * Turkey and the Turks (1968, Herbert Jenkins) * Spy and Counter Spy: Bernard Newman's Story of the British Secret Service (1970, Robert Hale)References and sources
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