- George Steer
George Lowther Steer (1909 –
25 December 1944 ) was a Britishjournalist andwar correspondent who reported on wars precedingWorld War II , especially the war againstEthiopia byMussolini s armies and theSpanish Civil War . He was employed byThe Times of London, and his eye-witness reports did much to alert western nations of thewar crimes committed by the Italians, although little was done to prevent them by theLeague of Nations .Career
George Steer was born in
South Africa in 1909 as a son of a newspaper manager. He studiedclassics in England, atWinchester College andChrist Church, Oxford . He later became a journalist and war correspondent.In 1935 Steer covered the Italian invasion of
Ethiopia for "The Times" and reported that Italian forces usedmustard gas . He became friendly with EmperorHaile Selassie ; the Emperor later stood as godfather to Steer's son. In 1937 he was sent to report on theSpanish Civil War . He won prominence with his report on the bombing ofGuernica onApril 26 1937 . His telegram to London described German bomb casings and the use ofthermite as anincendiary to create afirestorm in the center of the town. His reporting did much to inspirePicasso to record the atrocity for posterity in his massive painting. He returned to Souht Africa and reported on German attempts to subvert their former colonies. Next he was dispatched toFinland to cover theWinter War . He saw the effects of aerial bombing of several Finnish towns by the Soviets, attempts made to intimidate the population, just like at Guernica.econd World War
After the outbreak of the
Second World War , Steer joined the British Army and led an Ethiopian ForwardPropaganda unit when British troops began to fight Italian troops in the country. After the defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia in 1941, Steer was influential in restoring Haile Selassie to the throne. [ [http://www.newstatesman.com/200303240039 Review of "Telegram from Guernica: the extraordinary life of George Steer, war correspondent] " in theNew Statesman 24 March 2003 .] Later Steer was sent toIndia to lead a Field Propaganda Unit inBengal . The unit tried to breakJapan ese morale by loudspeakers with speeches and sentimental music.George Steer died in the crash of an Army
Jeep , which he was driving, in Burma onDecember 25 ,1944 .References
Books
* Nicholas Rankin - "Telegram from Guernica: The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent" ISBN 0-571-20563-1, 2003
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