John Verney was an author, illustrator, painter, and soldier. His best-known work is a memoir of his experiences of the Italian campaigns of the Second World War, Going to the Wars, published in 1955. He also wrote a number of books for children and young adults.
Early life and education
Verney was born in London on 30 September 1913, the son of Ralph Verney, who later went on to become secretary to the Speaker of the House of Commons and was created 1st Baronet Verney, of Eaton Square in 1946, and Janette Cheveria Hamilton, an Australian heiress. He spent part of his early childhood in India, where his father was serving as military secretary to the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford. Educated at Eton College, Verney read History at Christ Church, Oxford, taking a 3rd-class degree, and then spent a year training at the Architectural Association in London. Before the outbreak of war he worked as an assistant director with both Charles Laughton and Robert Donat.
As a member of the North Somerset Yeomanry, Verney was called up at the outbreak of war in September 1939. Commissioned as a Lieutenant, he served initially in Palestine before taking part in the invasion of Syria in 1941 and the Western Desert campaign in 1942. Verney then volunteered for the Special Air Service, as a member of which he took part in ‘Operation Swann’ in July 1943, parachuting into Sardinia to attack and destroy German aircraft stationed on the island. He was captured, but along with two others he escaped from a train and managed to rejoin the Eighth Army after three months hiding out in the Abruzzi mountains. He went on to see service in France and Germany as a major in the Royal Armoured Corps. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1944, and the Légion d'honneur in 1945.
Post-war career
Whilst still at Eton, Verney had made some drawings in the style of Heath Robinson, some of which he submitted for publication to Punch. Following his demobilisation in November 1945, he began to paint, in a variety of styles and using a range of media, and exhibited at London galleries such as the Leicester, the Redfern, and the New Grafton. A more reliable source of income was his work writing and illustrating children's magazines and books; he also had a brief period as editor of The Young Elizabethan in 1961–2. In 1955, he published Going to the Wars, "a vivid account of his years in the army which subtly blended humour and seriousness" ; a sequel, A Dinner of Herbs, in which Verney returned to the towns and villages of the Abruzzi mountains where he had been held captive during the war, was published in 1966. On the death of his father in February 1959, Verney succeeded to the title of the 2nd Baronet Verney, of Eaton Square, City of Westminster. In 1968, he was elected to Farnhamurban district council as an independent, and helped found the Farnham Trust, now one of the oldest building preservation trusts in the UK. In the early 1980s he served as chairman of the Gainsborough Museum at Sudbury, Suffolk.
Personal life
In 1939 Verney married Lucinda Musgrave. They had seven children – two boys and five girls; their eldest son, Julian, died aged 8 in November 1948. John Verney died aged 79, on 2 February 1993 at his home, the White House, in Clare, Suffolk.
