Frederick Escreet Smith (4 April 1919 – 15 May 2012) was a British author, best known for his 1956 novel ''

633 Squadron ''633 Squadron'' is a 1964 war film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British fighter-bomber squadron, was based on ...

'' about a

Second World War 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 ...

RAF

Mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

squadron undertaking a seemingly impossible mission to bomb a well-protected German factory at the head of a Norwegian fjord. The novel was made into a successful film in 1964. He also wrote the original 1951 story that the film '' Devil Doll'' (1964) is based on.

Further 633 novels

The author later published a number of further spin-off 633 squadron novels between 1975 and 1996, and one more in 2007. Those books are: ''Operation Rhine Maiden'' (1975); ''Operation Crucible'' (1977); ''Operation Valkyrie'' (1978); ''Operation Cobra'' (1993); ''Operation Titan'' (1994); ''Operation Crisis'' (1995); ''Operation Thor'' (1995); ''Operation Defiant'' (1996); and ''Operation Safeguard'' (2007).

Other works

Other books include: ''Of Masks and Minds'' (1954), ''Laws be Their Enemy'' (1955), ''Lydia Trendennis'' (1957), ''The Sin and the Sinners'' (1958), ''The Grotto of Tiberius'' (1961), ''The Devil Behind Me'' (1962), ''The Dark Cliffs'' (1962), ''The Storm Knight'' (1966), ''A Killing for the Hawks'' (1966), ''The Wider Sea of Love'' (1969), ''Waterloo'' (a 1970

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

, based on the 1970 film), ''The Persuaders!'' (3 volumes of novelisations in 1972, based on the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

), ''See How We Run'' (1972), ''The Tormented'' (1974), ''Saffron's War'' (1975), ''Saffron's Army'' (1977), ''Saffron's Trials'' (1996), ''The War God'' (1980), ''The Obsession'' (1984), ''Rage of the Innocents'' (1986), ''A Meeting of Stars'' (1987), ''In Presence of my Foes'' (1988), ''Years of the Fury'' (1989), and a guide to how to ''Write a Successful Novel'' (1991). As David Farrell, he also wrote ''The Other Cousin'' (1962), ''Temptation Isle'' (1962), ''Two Loves'' (1963), ''Strange Enemy'' (1967), ''Valley of Conflict'' (1967), ''Mullion Rock'' (1968).

Autobiography

Two volumes of autobiography, ''A Youthful Absurdity'' and ''An Author's Absurdities'', were published in 2011 and 2012, with a further volume ''The Final Absurdities'' scheduled to follow in November 2012. The books chart his early experiences in the RAF and in South Africa, marriage to his wife Shelagh, and his experiences as a full-time author.

Private life

Frederick E. Smith lived for 50 years in the Southbourne area of

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Bournemouth Daily Echo 18 May 2012 and worked hard promoting the art of writing, editing a local writers' magazine, and lecturing across the country. He died in Bournemouth of a heart attack on 15 May 2012, aged 93.Melanie Vass
Southbourne author of 633 Squadron series dies
'' Bournemouth Daily Echo'', 18 May 2012

References

External links

www.frederick-e-smith.com

www.emissary-publishing.com

Online catalogue listing
at COPAC
Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 27 May 2012 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Frederick E. 1919 births 2012 deaths Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British male novelists 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British male writers