{{Short description|British author, rugby player, soldier and war correspondent (1891–1945)}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Peter Lawless | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1891|10|9|df=y}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1945|3|10|1891|10|9|df=y}} | death_place = Remagen, Germany | death_cause = | occupation = Author, journalist, rugby player, soldier and war correspondent | known_for = | title = | children = | spouse = | website = }}
Major '''Philip Henry Lawless''' MC (9 October 1891 – 10 March 1945) was a British author, journalist, rugby player, soldier and war correspondent.<ref name=Times>Obituary, ''The Times'', 13 March 1945, p.6</ref>
==Early life== Born in London on 9 October 1891, "Peter" Lawless spent much of his early life in Devon. He was educated at Bedford School between 1905 and 1910.<ref>Obituary, ''The Ousel'', Vol.XLIX, No.738, 4 April 1945, p.27</ref>
==First World War== Lawless' experiences during the First World War were drawn upon by his grandson, Sebastian Faulks, during the writing of his novel ''Birdsong'', published in 1993.<ref name=Faulks>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3633189/Family-detective.html|title=Family detective|author=Nick Barratt|date=30 June 2007|work=Telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>
Lawless enlisted in the 28th County of London Battalion of the London Regiment, and arrived in France on 28 October 1914. In May 1915, he transferred to the 18th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, which was charged with clearing, repairing and building front-line trenches. In July 1916, the battalion was moved from its location near Béthune to assist in the attempted Capture of Fricourt. In 1917, Lawless was moved to the 26th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and was based in Salonika in November 1918. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1919 and left the British Army with the rank of Major.<ref name=Faulks /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31092/supplement/27/data.pdf|title=Issue 31092|work=The London Gazette|date=1 January 1919 |page=27|access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref>
==Sport== Lawless was well over six feet tall and was described by Michael Moynihan as "a burly, jovial man whose air of a hunting-shooting-fishing English squire went down well with the Yanks."<ref>Michael Moynihan, ''War Correspondent'', London, 1994, {{ISBN|0-850524-13-X}}, p.101</ref> Before the First World War, Lawless was a keen rower and rowed for the London Rowing Club eight which was defeated by the Union Boat Club in the 1914 Grand Challenge Cup. After the First World War he played in three rugby teams representing Great Britain, against New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, as well as for Richmond F.C., Middlesex, Surrey, Devon, the British Army, for the Barbarians against Leicester in 1920, 1922 and 1924, and against the East Midlands in 1922.<ref name=Times />
He was also a keen golfer, and was Golfing Correspondent of ''The Morning Post'', writing under the pen name ''Vagrant''.<ref name=Times /> He published books on rugby and golf.<ref>Peter Lawless, ''The Golfer's Companion'', J. M. Dent, 1937</ref><ref>Peter Lawless, ''Rugger's An Attacking Game'', Sampson Low, 1946</ref>
==Second World War== Lawless worked for ''The Morning Post'' until it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph'', which he joined in 1937. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he accompanied the Royal Air Force in France, between September 1939 and May 1940, as ''The Daily Telegraph'''s correspondent. He joined the Army Intelligence Corps on 4 July 1940, but was released in 1944 to return to ''The Daily Telegraph'' as a war correspondent with the American First Army after the invasion of Normandy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34939/supplement/5398/data.pdf|title=Issue 34939|work=The London Gazette|date=6 September 1940|page=5398|access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref><ref>Mitchel P. Roth, James Stuart Olson, ''Historical Dictionary of War Journalism'', 1997, {{ISBN|0-313291-71-3}}, p.178</ref>
He was killed by shell fire in action in Remagen, Germany, whilst covering the taking of one of the last surviving bridges over the River Rhine in March 1945.<ref>Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p.361 {{ISBN|0-333529-84-7}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawless, Peter}} Category:1891 births Category:1945 deaths Category:People educated at Bedford School Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:English war correspondents Category:Golf writers Category:British sportswriters Category:British sports journalists Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:Intelligence Corps soldiers Category:British war correspondents of World War II Category:Journalists killed while covering World War II Category:British civilians killed in World War II Category:Artists' Rifles soldiers Category:Army rugby union players Category:Richmond F.C. players Category:Surrey RFU players Category:Middlesex County RFU players Category:Devon RFU players Category:Barbarian F.C. players Category:English rugby union players Category:20th-century English male journalists Category:20th-century English journalists