Percy Francis Westerman (1876 – 22 February 1959) was an English author of children's literature, with a prolific output. Many of his books are adventure stories with military and naval themes.

Biography

He was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England in 1876, and educated at

Portsmouth Grammar School The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Portsmouth, England, located in the historic part of Portsmouth. It was founded in 1732 as a Single-sex education, boys' school ...

, before taking up a clerical appointment at Portsmouth Dockyard at the age of twenty. He married Florence Wager, of Portsmouth, in 1900. Always keen sailors, they spent part of their honeymoon sailing in the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

. Their son, John F.C. Westerman, born in 1901, also wrote adventure books for boys. At the age of 70 he was reluctantly forced by a fall to leave his houseboat for dry land, but he continued writing apace. He died at the age of 82, and his last book, ''Mistaken Identity'', was published posthumously in 1959.

Writing career

His writing career allegedly began with a sixpence bet made with his wife that he could write a better story than the one he was reading to his son, who was at the time ill with

chickenpox Chickenpox, also known as varicella ( ), is a highly contagious disease caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), a member of the herpesvirus family. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which ...

. His first book for boys, ''A Lad of Grit'', was published by

Blackie and Son Limited Blackie & Son was a publishing house in Glasgow, Scotland, and London, England, from 1809 to 1991.Iain Stevenson, ''Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century''. London: The British Library, 2010, p. 77. History The firm was foun ...

in 1908. In the same year, Baden-Powell founded the

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

movement, which strongly influenced many of Westerman's books – he was a particularly keen supporter of the Sea Scouts. He published a further three books in 1911, which were so successful that he gave up his Admiralty appointment that year to become a full-time author. He lived on board a

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily for regular dwelling. Most houseboats are not motorized, as they are usually moored or kept stationary, fixed at a Berth (moorings), berth, and often tethered to ...

– a converted

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

– on the River Frome at Wareham in Dorset, where he wrote the majority of his books. An early book, ''The Flying Submarine'' (published in 1912) may indicate Westerman's genre. This boys' adventure novel was about a mysterious man from a South American country. He was an inventor, who had discovered a new kind of lighter-than-air gas that he called "helia", which was much lighter than

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

. He used helia in many inventions, including back-packs that could help a man float in the air or fly upwards, and in the remarkable titular submarine that could, when enough helia was used, fly! Eventually he used his flying submarine to win a war between his South American country and its belligerent neighbour. It is highly likely that Westerman derived the idea for this super-weapon from Jules Verne's ''Terror'', the speedboat, submarine, automobile, or aircraft superweapon invented by Verne's arch-hero Robur in '' Master of the World'' and '' The Clipper of the Clouds''. Similarly Westerman's South American conflict reflects the wars between Paraguay and Uruguay. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was initially employed on coastal duties by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, but in 1918 he was commissioned, like

W. E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Earl ...

, in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

, as an instructor of

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

. During the

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 ...

he commanded the Arne platoon of the 7th

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

battalion (Wareham) from June 1940 until 26 December 1942. He wrote to Blackie of his service in the two wars that "neither appointment seriously interfered with my literary output." During the 1930s Westerman was voted the most popular author of stories for boys. His books sold over one and a half million copies in his lifetime (total sales at his death were 1,599,000). He published at least 174 books, with 12 different firms.

Bibliography

Publication dates as listed by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. Many titles were reissued subsequently, some several times.

Series

His publishing house S. W. Partridge included Westerman in a series entitled 'The Great Adventure Series' along with Rowland Walker, author of ''Oscar Danby, V.C.''

Example illustrations of Westerman's books

Westerman's books were illustrated, as was the norm with books intended for the juvenile market. Typically they had from four to six full-page illustration, although some had more. ''The Sea Monarch'', which had originally been serialised in '' The Captain'' in 1911, had 12 full page illustrations. The

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

edition of the book has eight more illustrations (not full pages size), as the book was scanned from Volume XXV of ''The Captain'' rather than from the book published by A. C. Black.

Illustrations for Westerman's first book

Illustrations by Edward S. Hodgson for ''A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times'' (1908). This was the first book by Westerman and the first of seventeen of his books to be illustrated by Hodgson. By courtesy of

. File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for A Lad of Grit (1909) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-1.jpg, No.-1 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for A Lad of Grit (1909) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-2.jpg, No.-2 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for A Lad of Grit (1909) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-3.jpg, No.-3 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for A Lad of Grit (1909) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-4.jpg, No.-4

Illustrations for one of Westerman's First World War stories

Illustrations by Edward S. Hodgson for ''Winning his Wings: A story of the R. A. F.'' (1920) by Westerman. This was another story by Westerman set in the

. It was one of seventeen books by Westerman illustrated by Hodgson. By courtesy of

. File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-1.jpg, No.-1 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-2.jpg, No.-2 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-3.jpg, No.-3 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-4.jpg, No.-4 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-5.jpg, No.-5 File:Illustration by E. S. Hodgson for Winning his Wings (1920) by Percy F. Westerman-by courtesy of Project Gutenberg-6.jpg, No.-6

Notes

References

Sources

J.F.C. and Percy Westerman
*Obituary of Mr. Percy F. Westerman, ''The Times'' (London). 25 February 1959.

External links

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westermanyarns
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westerman, Percy F. 1876 births 1959 deaths 20th-century English novelists People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School English children's writers Writers from Portsmouth Royal Flying Corps officers British Home Guard officers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Navy personnel of World War I Military personnel from Portsmouth