Russell Braddon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Russell Reading Braddon 25 January 1921 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 20 March 1995 (aged 74) Urunga, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Novelist |
Russell Reading Braddon (25 January 1921 – 20 March 1995) was an Australian writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts. His chronicle of his four years as a prisoner of war, The Naked Island, sold more than a million copies.
Braddon was born on 25 January 1921 in North Sydney, New South Wales. He was the son of Thelma Doris (née Reading) and Henry Russell Braddon. His father, a barrister, was the grandson of Tasmanian premier Edward Braddon.[1]
Braddon enlisted in the Australian Army during World War II,[2] serving in the Malayan campaign. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Pudu and Changi prisons and on the Thailand-Burma Railway between 1942 and 1945.[3][4] During this time he met Ronald Searle, whose Changi sketches illustrate The Naked Island.[5]
After the war, he went on to study law at University of Sydney. Nevertheless, he failed to obtain a law degree (he maintained that he had lost interest in the subject) and he abandoned undergraduate life in 1948.[6]
In 1949, Braddon moved to England after suffering a mental breakdown and followed by a suicide attempt. Doctors attributed this breakdown to his POW experiences, and urged him to take a year to recuperate. He described his writing career as "beginning by chance". The Naked Island, published in 1952, was one of the first accounts of a Japanese prisoner of war's experience.
Braddon went on to produce a wide range of works, including novels, biographies, histories, TV scripts and newspaper articles. In addition, he was a frequent broadcaster on British radio and television.[7] He died in 1995 at his home in Urunga, New South Wales, having returned to Australia two years before.[8]
Proud Australian Boy: A Biography of Russell Braddon by Nigel Starck was published in Australia in 2011.
