{{Short description|English military historian and author (1932–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox writer <!--For more information, see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]].--> | name = Martin Middlebrook | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = British-military-historian-and-author-martin-middlebrook.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Middlebrook speaking in 2014 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1932|01|24}} | birth_place = [[Boston, Lincolnshire]], England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2024|01|19|1932|01|24}} | death_place = [[Cheltenham]], England | resting_place = | occupation = author | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = military history | subject = [[World War I]], [[World War II]], [[Falklands War]] | movement = | notableworks = ''[[The First Day on the Somme (book)|The First Day on the Somme]]'',<br />''[[The Nuremberg Raid (book)|The Nuremberg Raid]]'',<br />''[[The Berlin Raids]]'' | spouse = Mary Middlebrook | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit --> }}
'''Martin Middlebrook''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|FRHistS|size=100%|sep=,}} (24 January 1932 – 19 January 2024) was an English [[military historian]] and author.
==Education and military service== Middlebrook was educated at various schools, including [[Ratcliffe College]], [[Leicester]]. He entered National Service in 1950, was commissioned in the [[Royal Army Service Corps]] (RASC), and served as a Motor Transport Officer in the [[Suez Canal|Suez Canal Zone]] and [[Aqaba]], Jordan. Middlebrook subsequently spent three years in [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] service.
==Career== Middlebrook wrote his first book ''[[The First Day on the Somme (book)|The First Day on the Somme]]'' (1971) following a visit to the First World War battlefields of [[France]] and [[Belgium]] in 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/qa-martin-middlebrook|title=Q&A: Military historian, Martin Middlebrook|author=Ottawa Citizen More Ottawa Citizen|work=Ottawa Citizen}}</ref> The book is a detailed study of the single worst day for the [[British Army]]. Middlebrook gave the same single-day treatment to 21 March 1918, the opening of the [[German spring offensive]], in ''The Kaiser's Battle''. Middlebrook's Second World War books concentrate on the [[air war]]. A number of them again deal with a single day of action (''[[The Nuremberg Raid (book)|The Nuremberg Raid]]'', ''The Schweinfurt–Regensburg Mission'' and ''The Peenemünde Raid'') while others cover longer air battles (''[[The Battle of Hamburg (book)|The Battle of Hamburg]]'' and ''[[The Berlin Raids (book)|The Berlin Raids]]''). Middlebrook also wrote two books on the [[Falklands War]], one from the British and Falkland Islanders' perspective and one from the [[Argentina|Argentinian]] perspective.{{citation needed|date= August 2023}}
==Death== Middlebrook died in [[Cheltenham]] on 19 January 2024, at the age of 91.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martin Middlebrook |url=https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/latest-news/2024/martin-middlebrook/ |website=The Western Front Association |access-date=23 January 2024 |date=23 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Middlebrook |url=https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/middlebrook-notices_55473 |access-date=25 January 2024 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=25 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Martin Middlebrook obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/martin-middlebrook-obituary-r37j3jm6g |access-date=1 March 2024 |work=[[The Times]] |date=1 March 2024}}</ref>
==Honours== Middlebrook was a [[Fellow of the Royal Historical Society]] (FRHistS). He was appointed Knight of the [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Order of the Belgian Crown]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gatewaysfww.org.uk/events/interview-martin-middlebrook-reflections-fifty-years-researching-and-writing-first-world-war|title=An interview with Martin Middlebrook: reflections on fifty years of researching and writing on the First World War}}</ref>
== Books == *''[[The First Day on the Somme (book)|The First Day on the Somme]]'' with much co-operation from John Howlett. (1971) {{OCLC|462049234}} *''[[The Nuremberg Raid (book)|The Nuremberg Raid]]'' (1973) {{OCLC|463009305}} *''Convoy SC.122 & HX.229'' (1976) {{ISBN|9781848844780}} *''Battleship: the loss of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse'' (with Patrick Mahoney) (1977) {{ISBN|0713910429}} *''The Kaiser's Battle'' with much co-operation from Neville Mackinder. (1978) {{ISBN|071391081X}} *''[[The Battle of Hamburg (book)|The Battle of Hamburg]]'' (1980) *''The Peenemünde Raid'' (1982) *''The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission'' (1983) *''[[The Bomber Command War Diaries]]'' (1985) (with the late Chris Everitt) {{ISBN|0670801372}} *''The Falklands War, 1982'' (1985) first published as ''Operation Corporate'' *''[[The Berlin Raids]]'' (1988) *''The Somme Battlefields: a Comprehensive Guide from Crʹecy to the Two World Wars'' (with his wife Mary Middlebrook) (1991) {{ISBN|0670830836}} *''Arnhem 1944'' (1994) {{ISBN|081332498X}} *''Your Country Needs You: from Six to Sixty-five Divisions'' (2000) {{ISBN|0850527112}} *{{cite book |url=https://www.scribd.com/book/444109351/Argentine-Fight-for-the-Falklands |title=The Argentine fight for the Falklands |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |isbn=9781783032020 |year=2003}} *''Captain Staniland's Journey: The North Midlands Territorials Go To War'' (2003) {{ISBN|9780850529968}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060215034015/http://www.fylde.demon.co.uk/middlebrook2.htm A letter from Middlebrook describing the writing of ''The First Day on the Somme'']
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middlebrook, Martin}} [[Category:1932 births]] [[Category:2024 deaths]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society]] [[Category:Historians of World War I]] [[Category:English military writers]] [[Category:English military historians]] [[Category:Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]] [[Category:British historians of World War II]] [[Category:Royal Army Service Corps officers]] [[Category:Military personnel from Lincolnshire]] [[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]] [[Category:People from Boston, Lincolnshire]]