Hammond Innes

Author

• Born: July 15, 1913
• Birthplace: Horsham, Sussex, England
• Died: June 10, 1998
• Place of death: Kersey, Suffolk, England

Biography

Ralph Hammond Innes was born on July 15, 1913, at Horsham in Sussex, England, to Scottish parents, banker William Hammond Innes and Dora Beatrice Chisford Hammond Innes. He studied at the Cranbrook School until he was eighteen, deciding to become an author. Beginning in 1934, he wrote industrial articles for the Financial News. Innes married actress Dorothy Mary Lang on August 21, 1937.

Continuing to work as a journalist until 1940, Innes served with the Royal Artillery during World War II. Assigned to the Eighth Army, he landed on Sicily with troops and was stationed in Italy and the Middle East. British military officials arranged for Innes to serve as a correspondent with the British Army Newspaper Unit, editing an army newspaper based in Florence, Italy. Innes reported about major actions, including when Allied forces invaded southern France, and attained the rank of major. When he served on night watches to protect strategic military sites, he wrote books depicting the war. He was demobilized in 1946.

Innes flew with Royal Air Force pilots during the Berlin Airlift for book research. Insisting on visiting every place featured in his books, Innes and his wife traveled to exotic sites for him to experience his stories’ settings. They often journeyed on their yacht, the Mary Deare. He enjoyed racing ships at sea. Innes purchased his rural home, Ayres End, and surrounding acreage located at Kersey in Suffolk. He invested in replenishing timber and arranged to have almost two million trees planted on his land and additional fields he bought in Wales and Australia. Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the honorary award Commander of the British Empire on Innes in 1978. Suffering from cancer, Innes died on June 10, 1998, at his Kersey house.

In the mid-1930’s, Innes wrote his first book, The Doppelganger, to earn income for his upcoming marriage. Contracted to create three additional novels, Innes honored his agreement despite minimal advances. Although he considered his first books to lack literary qualities, Innes realized that crafting them had helped him to learn how to structure novels and pace plots. He wrote for different publishers during the next decades. Innes’s book Attack Alarm appeared serially in United States periodicals, before being printed in one volume in 1941. In addition to military and adventure themes, Innes featured conservation topics, including protecting forests and preventing pollution. He also created nonfiction books featuring places where he had traveled and historical accounts. Writing as Ralph Hammond, Innes created four books for children.

Although many critics dismissed Innes’s books for being commercial and nonliterary, reviewers noted his flair for writing suspenseful action scenes and offering readers appealing characters that challenged human and natural obstacles in unusual locations. Innes developed a consistent readership with such popular books as The Wreck of the “Mary Deare” and Campbell’s Kingdom. Readers purchased millions of copies. His books frequently were best sellers. Hollywood producers adapted many of Innes’s books into film. Publishers translated Innes’s writing into approximately forty languages. Bristol University presented him an honorary diploma. He received the Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award at a 1993 mystery conference sponsored by fans.