John Foley (author)

Major (Cedric) John Foley MBE (7 March 1917 – 8 November 1974) was a British soldier and author.

He was educated at St Mary's College, Crosby and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. A regular soldier between 1936 and 1954, he was made MBE for his services to the Royal Armoured Corps during the Second World War.

His love of tanks was reflected in "The Boilerplate War", a book of recollections of the early days of armoured warfare, and "Mailed Fist", telling of his tank exploits in Normandy in 1944. He drew on his military experience in several other successful novels, including "Death of a Regiment" and "Bull and Brass".

He spent five years as a Military Reporter and later served in the Directorate of Public Relations at the War Office.

On retiring from the Army, he continued in public relations, and became prominent as a consultant, being particularly concerned with the problems of American-owned businesses in Britain. He was also a director of Campbell-Johnson Ltd.

A man of wide interests, he was also known as a broadcaster and scriptwriter.

He was also military advisor to the popular ITV comedy show, The Army Game.

Two of his novels were filmed.

*"Very Important Person" (1961), starring James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips.
*"Man in the Moon" (1960), starring Kenneth More and Shirley Anne Field.

References

*Obituary, "The Times", 13 November 1974