Sir Frank Ignatius Fox (10 August 1874[2] – 1960)[3] was an Australian-born journalist, soldier, author and campaigner, who lived in Britain from 1909.
Fox was appointed editor of The Australian Workman in 1893, then in 1895 the (Bathurst) National Advocate, before joining The Age, where he served as chief of their reporting staff.[4]
He joined the staff of the Sydney Bulletin in 1901[5] and was acting editor for a time. As "Frank Renar", he published his first book Bushman and Buccaneer, a memoir of Harry Morant which became the seminal work for subsequent books, plays and the acclaimed film Breaker Morant.
While still working for the Bulletin, Fox served 1907–09 as first editor and manager of Lone Hand, a monthly publication of literature and poetry. Fox published a volume of political essays, From the Old Dog (Melbourne), in 1908. He was a keen horseman; riding out regularly with his literary colleagues Andrew Banjo Paterson and Norman Lindsay.[6] In spite of the latter describing him as an equine exhibitionist, Lindsay painted an equestrian portrait of Fox. This was considered highly unusual, as the subject matter is not in keeping with Lindsay's well-known works.[7]
Lindsay wrote Bohemians of the Bulletin, which is illustrated with his doodles.[8]
Fox was appointed as an assistant editor for the Morning Post[9] in December 1909 and later in 1910, he was promoted as the news editor. He published Ramparts of Empire (1910) about the navy, Australia (1910), The British Empire (1911), Problems of the Pacific (1912) and many travel books.
Motivated by the atrocities he witnessed to the civilian population in Belgium whilst war correspondent for the Morning Post he was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery on 13 December 1914, over age at 41, and served in France. He was twice wounded in the Battle of the Somme. In 1917-18 he was at the War Office[10] working for MI7, publishing "The Battle of the Ridges" and "The British Army at War" designed to educate the American Public about the British war effort. He then served as Staff Captain at the Quartermaster General's branch, General Headquarters, in France, and wrote a contemporary account of life there ("GHQ" Montreuil-sur-Mer).
War Correspondent – 1912 Bulgarian Army in Balkan War.
War Correspondent – Belgian Army. Aug – Dec 1914. German Invasion. Reporting to Brussels re atrocities to civilian population (Order of the Crown of Belgium – in the gift of King Albert.)
GHQ – Montreuil-sur-Mer. Staff Officer in QMG Division; then War Office as Major, (OBE Military; Mentioned in Dispatches) (1916-1919).
Author
Australian military historian Craig Wilcox, author of the book Australia's Boer War, Oxford University Press 2002 wrote:
Fox was a great man, and concerning Morant I think of him not only as the launcher of an Australian legend but also its subtlest and most intelligent storyteller; he confounds Morant’s champions as well as Morant’s detractors, as good literature and insider history ought to do. His little book ( Bushman and Buccaneer- A Memoir of Harry Morant) is often cited, sometimes plundered, but too rarely read.
1915 - The Agony of Belgium: (being Phase 1 of the Great War), Hutchinson (republished in 2014 by Charles Goodson-Wickes, Great Grandson and Literary Executor of Sir Frank Fox.) Reviewed July 2016 in The Guards Magazine.[14]
1918 - The Battle of the Ridges; Arras, Messiness (March–June 1917) Pearson
1918 - The British Army at War, Unwin
1920 - "GHQ" (Montreuil-sur-mer), "GSO" P Allan. (French edition republished in 2015. English Edition in 2016 by Charles Goodson-Wickes, Great Grandson and Literary Executor of Sir Frank Fox.) Reviewed in The Times on 16/7/16 as one of the six best War Reads.[15] Reviewed July 2016 in The Guards Magazine[14] Reviewed in The RUSI Journal December 2016 Vol. 161 No. 6 pp. 58.63][16]
1923 - The History of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry 1898 - 1922 (The Great Cavalry Campaign in Palestine), P Allan
1923 - Beneath an Ardent Sun, Hodder & Stoughton
1923 - The English 1909–1922; a gossip, Murray
1924 - The British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, Official Guide, in collaboration with Grant Cook
1926 - Finland Today, Black; new edition 1928
1927 - Italy Today, H Jenkins
1928 - The Mastery of the Pacific: can the British Empire and the United States agree? Seams, NY 1928
1928 - The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in the World War, Constable
1930 - Parliamentary Government - a failure, S Paul
1937 - The Royal House of Windsor 1837-1937 (edited), Royal Warrant Holders Association
1951 - The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in the Second World War, 1939–45
References
^ abMartha Rutledge (1981), Sir Frank Ignatius Fox (1874–1960), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 28 July 2024.
