Sandy Gall

Sandy Gall, CBE (born 1 October 1927, Penang) is a British journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter. His career as a journalist spans over 50 years.

Career

Sandy Gall was born in Penang, Malaysia, and educated in Scotland at Trinity College, Glenalmond, a boys' independent boarding school in Scotland. The school has since been renamed Glenalmond College. He then attended the University of Aberdeen, from which he graduated in 1952. In 1953 he joined Reuters as a foreign correspondent. Among the events he reported for Reuters were the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and the Congo Crisis 1960-1963.

He joined ITN in 1963 as a foreign correspondent. He was the first ITN journalist to report the Vietnam War when the United States Marines landed on 8 March 1965. He returned to Vietnam several times until 1975 when Saigon fell and he was forcibly removed from the country by the communist authorities. During this time he also reported from Cambodia, China, Afghanistan, and Africa. He also covered the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In 1972 he was famously arrested with his Reuters colleague Nicholas Moore in Uganda and held for three days in the notorious Makindye police camp.

He was one of the original staff on News at Ten in 1967 and went on to become one of its senior presenters.

Gall has reported from Afghanistan on numerous occasions, written several books about Afghanistan, and made three documentaries during the Soviet war in Afghanistan: "Afghanistan: Behind Russian Lines" (1982); "Allah Against the Gunships" (1984); and "Agony of a Nation" (1986). The latter two documentaries were nominated for BAFTA awards.

In 1986 Sandy Gall established the Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA). As of 2006 the charity, which is supported by the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided artificial limbs and walking aids for more than 20,000 people, and physiotherapy for more than 50,000 people. Gall's wife Eleanor and two of his daughters, Fiona and Michaela, are also actively involved in the charity.

Gall was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan in 1985, the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987, [Royal Society for Asian Affairs, [http://www.rsaa.org.uk/awards.pdf Award of Medals] ] and the CBE in 1987.

Gall retired from ITN in 1992, but has continued television work and writing. He became the World Affairs Expert on LBC radio in 2003. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2632755.stm BBC News - News veteran Gall makes radio return] , 6 Jan 2003]

He lives in Penshurst, Kent with his wife Eleanor.

Family

A daughter, Carlotta Gall, covers Afghanistan and Pakistan for "The New York Times."

Bibliography

*The Bushmen of Southern Africa: Slaughter of the Innocent (July 2001), with Charles, Prince of Wales, Chatto and Windus, ISBN 0-7011-6906-0
*News From The Front: A Television Reporter's Life (Feb 1994), William Heinemann, ISBN 0-434-00087-6
*George Adamson: Lord of the Lions (Nov 1991), Grafton, ISBN 0-246-13699-5
*Afghanistan: Travels with the Mujahideen (July 1989), New English Library Ltd, ISBN 0-450-50082-9
*Salang (May 1989), The Bodley Head Ltd, ISBN 0-370-31309-7
*Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation (Feb 1988), with Margaret Thatcher, The Bodley Head Ltd, ISBN 0-370-31135-3
*Behind Russian Lines: An Afghan Journal (Sep 1983), Sidg. & J, ISBN 0-283-99039-2
*Don't Worry About the Money Now (March 1983), H Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-10959-0
*Chasing the Dragon (June 1981), Wm Collins & Sons & Co, ISBN 0-00-222125-X
*Gold Scoop (October 1977), Collins, ISBN 0-00-221355-9

Film Documentary

**George Adamson: Lord of the Lions - Produced by Nick Gray and Sandy Gall. In 1989 Sandy Gall visited conservationist George Adamson, of Born Free fame, in Kenya East Africa to discuss his past, his motivation and his life among his lion friends.

Articles

*cite web| author=Sandy Gall| title=Unlike Iraq, the Afghan war is winnable | publisher=The Independent| date=2006-10-01| url=http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article1777732.ece| accessdate=2006-11-25
*cite web| author=Sandy Gall| title=Blood and fear in Idi's jail| publisher=The Observer| date=2003-08-17| url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,,1020397,00.html| accessdate=2006-11-25
*cite web| author=Sandy Gall| title=When David took on Goliath| publisher=New Statesman| date=2001-10-15| url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200110150015| accessdate=2006-11-25

References

* [http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/galls/b-aut.html Sandy Gall CV at PFD]
* [http://www.knightayton.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=32 Sandy Gall CV at Knight Ayton Management]
* [http://www.abdn.ac.uk/newsletter/issue_17/story15.hti University of Aberdeen Newsletter] , October 2002, Issue 17
* [http://www.rgshk.org.hk/events_past.asp?Page=7 Royal Geographical Society, Hong Kong] , Afghanistan - Past, Present and Future, Lecture by Sandy Gall, CBE, 01 December 2003
*imdb name|1307905

External links

* [http://www.sandygallsafghanistanappeal.org/ Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal]