Peter Fleming

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This article is about Peter Fleming the writer. For information on the tennis player of the same name, see Peter Fleming (tennis player).

Peter Fleming, OBE (May 31 1907 – August 9 1971) was a British adventurer and travel writer.

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Biography

Peter Fleming's fame has now been almost completely eclipsed by that of his younger brother, Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books.

The Fleming brothers were two of the four sons of the barrister and MP Valentine Fleming who was killed in action in 1917, having served as MP for Henley from 1910.

Peter Fleming was educated at Eton College and then at Christ Church, Oxford. While at Eton, he was the editor of the Eton College Chronicle, and the Peter Fleming Owl (the English meaning of "Strix", the name under which he later wrote for The Spectator) is still awarded every year to the best contributor to the Chronicle.

In 1935, he married the actress Celia Johnson (1908–1982), best known for her role in the film Brief Encounter.

During World War II he served with the Grenadier Guards; later Peter and his brother Ian were commissioned by Colin Gubbins to help establish the Auxiliary Units. This was to be the "secret army" of civilian volunteers that would fight on, behind enemy lines, in the event of a German invasion of Britain. He received an OBE in 1945 for his services.

After the war, Peter Fleming retired to squiredom at Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, and published several books.

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Family

Peter and Celia Fleming remained married until his death in 1971, while on a shooting expedition in Argyll, Scotland; he was survived by his wife and their three children:

  • Nicholas "Nichol" Fleming (1939–1996) deposited Peter Fleming's papers for public access at the University of Reading in 1975. These include several unpublished works, as well as the manuscripts of several of his books that are now out of print.
  • Kate Fleming (b. 1946) is now Kate Grimond, wife of John Grimond, a son of the late British Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond, grandson maternally of Violet Bonham-Carter, herself daughter of the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith). They have three children. John Grimond is foreign editor of the British news magazine The Economist. Kate has since the late 1990s been the co-owner of the Ian Fleming estate, with her sister Lucy.
  • Lucy Fleming (b. 1947), now Lucy Williams, is an actress. In the 1970s she starred as Jenny in the BBC's apocalyptic fiction series Survivors. She was first married in 1971 to Joseph "Joe" Laycock, the son of a family friend, by whom she had several children. The marriage was dissolved in the early 1980s, after a series of family tragedies. She then married the actor and writer Simon Williams.

Ian Fleming apparently appointed his elder brother as a literary executor. His only son died unmarried, and he was reportedly separated from his wife at the time of his death.

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Other Connections

Peter Fleming was the godfather of the British author and journalist Duff Hart-Davis, who wrote up Fleming's life as Peter Fleming: A Biography, published in 1974.

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Quotes

  • "São Paulo is like Reading, only much farther away" – Brazilian Adventure
  • Public opinion in England is sharply divided on the subject of Russia. On the one hand you have the crusty majority, who believe it to be a hell on earth; on the other you have the half-baked minority who believe it to be a terrestrial paradise in the making. Both cling to their opinions with the tenacity, respectively, of the die-hard and the fanatic. Both are hoplessly wrong. – One's Company
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Bibliography

Fleming was a special correspondent for The Times and (as "Strix") an essayist for The Spectator; he also wrote a series of books on his travels around the world. Titles include:

  • 1933 Brazilian Adventure — Exploring the Brazilian jungle in search of the lost Colonel Percy Fawcett.
  • 1934 One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933 — Travels through Manchuria. Later reissued as half of Travels in Tartary.
  • 1936 News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir — Journey from Peking to Srinagar via Sinkiang. He was accompanied on this journey by Ella Maillart (Kini). Later reissued as half of Travels in Tartary.
  • 1941 The Flying Visit — A humorous novel about an unintended visit to Britain by Adolf Hitler. Illustrated by David Low.
  • 1942 A Story to Tell: And Other Tales — A collection of short stories.
  • 1952 The Sixth Column: A Singular Tale of Our Times
  • 1952 A Forgotten Journey — A diary Fleming kept during a journey through Russia and Manchuria in 1934.
  • 1956 My Aunt's Rhinoceros: And Other Reflections — A collection of essays written (as "Strix") for The Spectator.
  • 1957 Invasion 1940 — an account of the threatened German invasion of Britain in 1940.
  • 1957 With the Guards to Mexico: And Other Excursions — A collection of essays written for The Spectator.
  • 1958 The Gower Street Poltergeist — A collection of essays written for The Spectator.
  • 1959 The Siege at Peking — An account of the Boxer Rebellion and the European-led siege of the Imperial capital.
  • 1961 Bayonets to Lhasa: The First Full Account of the British Invasion of Tibet in 1904
  • 1961 Goodbye to the Bombay Bowler — A collection of essays written for The Spectator.
  • 1963 The Fate of Admiral Kolchak — a study of the White Army leader Admiral Kolchak who attempted to save the Imperial Russian family at Ekaterinburg in 1918.
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Sources

ro:Peter Fleming

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