George Bazeley Scurfield was an English author, poet, and politician. He was born on 19 March 1920 in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England, and died on 15 December 1991 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, England. He married Cecilia Hopkinson in 1947 at

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...

. They had five children, including their son the actor,

Matthew Scurfield Matthew Scurfield (born 2 February 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) is an English actor and the eldest child of author George Scurfield and his wife Cecilia (née Hopkinson). His autobiography, ''I Could Be Anyone'', was published in 2008 ( ...

, and daughters; Sarah, Lucy, Poly and Sophy.

World War II

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 ...

, George Scurfield served as an officer with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for his wartime services in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. This

military decoration Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medallion. Civil decorations award ...

is awarded to officers of the

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 ...

in recognition of an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy.

Politics

In the 1960s Scurfield entered

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

politics. He twice ran in

Cambridge City Council, England Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014. It meets at Cambridge Guildhall. The council is ...

elections as a Labour Party candidate. First in Market Ward, in May 1962 when he came in 3rd, losing to the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate, Peter Calvert. In May 1963 Scurfield was elected to City Council in Petersfield, where he served through 1965. In September 1967 Scurfield again ran for City Council in Cambridge, placing second to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate, David Lane. He was the Labour Candidate for Cambridge in the 1970 General Election.

Author

George Scurfield, with his wife Cecilia, wrote two charming and useful works on home baking. These books have become

cook book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cours ...

classics, and both remain in print to this day. The first, ''Home Baked'', about the process of hand

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

bread, was originally published in 1956. The companion volume, ''Home-Made Cakes and Biscuits'', first published in 1975, is equally engaginghttp://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/books/homemadecakesand.html Wakefield Press: Home-Made Cakes and Biscuits and practical.

Published poems

*''Poets of Tomorrow'', Second Selection (containing five poems by George Scurfield), published by Cambridge Poetry (

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

, 1940). *''The Song of a Red Turtle'', a book of poems published by Timbimuttu (London, 1941), 19 pages. *"Brother If You Could See Me Now", Seven Magazine of People's Writing (April - June, 1944) *"The Colonel", Seven Magazine of People's Writing (July - September, 1944) *"Evening", Seven Magazine of People's Writing (October - December, 1944 *"Song and Dance" published in "The War Decade: An Anthology of the 1940s" by Andrew Sinclair, 1989 (page 34) George Scurfield is referenced in ''Tambittu's Poetry in Wartime'' by H.M. Klein, an anthology of war poetry.

Novels

*''The Bamboo House'', published by Michael Joseph Ltd. (London, 1950). *''Alone With Our Day'', published by Michael Joseph Ltd. (London, 1952).

Non-fiction

*''A Stickful of Nonpareil'', with illustrations by

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was a British painter, printmaker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All Al ...

, published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1956. This 58-page book, (15 illustrations in the text) contained reminiscence of sixty years at the Cambridge University Press, and was printed in a limited edition of only 500 copies for presentation at Christmas. *''Gardening for Fun'' by George Scurfield, published 1959. *''Home Baked, A Little Book of Bread Recipes'' (), by George and Cecilia Scurfield, Illustrated by Nora Kay. (1959), 86 pages. *''Home-Made Cakes and Biscuits'' (), by George and Cecilia Scurfield. *''New York Times Menu Cook Book'', by George and Cecilia Scurfield, published by H&R (New York, 1966). *''Fakenham and Folkestone Etcetera'' (), published by The Larks Press, 1988, 356 pages. *''The Bitter Mangoes'', memoirs of his years at St John's and his wartime service in the Far East for which he was awarded the

, 1938–45. Written in 1991. 101 pages.

References

British History On-Line
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scurfield, George Bazeley 1920 births Military personnel from Leicestershire People from Leicestershire Recipients of the Military Cross 1991 deaths Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets