Jerrard Tickell


Edward Jerrard Tickell was an Irish writer, known for his novels and World War II historical books.

Biography

Jerrard Tickell was born in Dublin and educated in Tipperary and, from 1919 until 1922 at Highgate School in London. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940 and was commissioned in 1941, when he was appointed to the War Office. Between 1943 and 1945 his official duties took him to Africa, the Middle East, Washington DC, Canada, the West Indies and Europe. He was appointed to the General Staff in 1945.
He was married to the author and psychical researcher Renée Haynes, the daughter of the eminent English social moralist E. S. P. Haynes and Oriana Huxley Waller and they had three sons: Crispin, Patrick, and Tom.
Tickell wrote 21 novels, including the bestselling Appointment with Venus, which was made into a film of the same name starring David Niven and a 1962 Danish film Venus fra Vestø.
His non-fiction work includes a memoir of SOE agent Odette Hallowes, an account of No. 138 Squadron RAF, and a history of "Ascalon", Winston Churchill's personal Avro York transport aircraft.

Scandal

A book, The West End Front by Matthew Sweet, gives details of a forgotten family incident in London during WW2 which resulted in Jerrard facing trail at the Old Bailey for a charge for which he was acquitted. Sweet recounts how he broke the news of this rediscovered chapter of family history to Jerrard's two surviving son's Sir Crispin, formerly Britain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Tom Tickell, former Guardian newspaper columnist.

Publications

Non-fiction