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Recruitment was carried out by a former French paratrooper , Roger Bruni , operating from an apartment on Rue Bachaumont in central Paris . Advertisements , placed in newspapers such as France Soir , offered " a job with a future abroad ... minimum age 22 , former non @-@ commissioned officers preferred " . The body of men eventually assembled varied widely in terms of age , background and experience , but was based largely around ex @-@ paratroopers and former Foreign Legionnaires . The average age was about 25 . French @-@ speaking veterans of an assortment of African and Middle Eastern conflicts spanning the previous two decades successfully applied , but past service did not prove a necessity ; some of the men accepted had no military experience . Most of them spoke English only at a basic level if at all .
Once signed up , each man was instructed to travel to Switzerland , where appropriate visas were swiftly procured from the South African Embassy . In early November 1977 , the French recruits flew from Zurich to Johannesburg on a South African Airways liner , then to Salisbury by Air Rhodesia . Already in Rhodesia waiting for the men were their leaders : Major Roland de l 'Assomption , an ex @-@ officer of the French Army 's crack 11th Shock Parachute Regiment , and a former officer of the Gabonese President Omar Bongo 's guard ; and Major Mario La Viola , once a non @-@ commissioned officer in the Foreign Legion 's 2nd Parachute Regiment . Beneath them were the Antillean Captain Toumi , who became the first black officer in the regular Rhodesian Army as the unit 's second @-@ in @-@ command , and " Colonel " Bob Denard , an infamous French soldier of fortune nicknamed le chien de guerre — " the dog of war " .
According to an anonymous veteran of the unit , it mostly comprised recently discharged servicemen from the French forces who were having trouble adapting to civilian life . " They didn 't know how to do anything else , only how to jump with a parachute and obey orders , " he explained , " and they liked that kind of thing . " Others , he said , were members of the political far right who had joined up " to kill commies and blacks " , and some were criminals hoping to escape the attention of the French police . Each signed on for two years . The French @-@ speaking unit was placed in the Rhodesia Regiment ( RR ) as an " independent company " . The RR already had six of these ( made up of Rhodesians ) , so the Frenchmen became 7 Independent Company .
The Rhodesian Army sought to forge a strong esprit de corps among the new recruits , and to this end extended them several sentimental allowances : for example , morale amongst the Frenchmen rose when they were informed that the Rhodesian insignia on their berets would be backed with the French tricolour . In a similar vein , their request for permission to raise the flag of France alongside that of Rhodesia outside their headquarters each morning was approved . French @-@ speaking men already in the army were attached to the unit to act as interpreters and assist with coordination and tactical instruction . Some of these were Mauritians , who by virtue of their upbringing spoke both English and French at a native @-@ like level . The company itself , which numbered about 200 men , was assigned headquarters near Salisbury at Cranborne Barracks , the home of the Rhodesian Light Infantry . It was organised in the same manner as a standard Rhodesian independent company , the only exception being its exclusively francophone personnel .
Spirits were high during the unit 's brief training period as the men enjoyed playing sports , observing the country scenery and experiencing the night @-@ life of the nearby capital . They were not adequately trained , receiving only a basic medical examination , a few days ' fitness training and a cursory explanation of proper conduct in the bush . They expressed surprise when instructed to paint stripes of camouflage green on their weapons and combat boots in the Rhodesian fashion , having never before heard of such a practice .
The first dent to morale came after about a week when the volunteers were first issued ranks in the Rhodesian Army . In the eyes of some of the French @-@ speaking soldiers , the ranks assigned appeared to have been chosen almost at random by their superiors , and did not reflect their actual respective levels of training , ability and experience . Some men who considered themselves to have been overlooked began to have problems with discipline . The brazen attitude of most of the company 's soldiers jarred strongly with that of their Rhodesian commanders , who had high standards regarding presentation and dress which many of the Frenchmen had little inclination to meet .
= = Service = =
= = = First bush trip = = =
The francophone company was first deployed out of its barracks in late November 1977 , when it was sent to Bindura , about 88 kilometres ( 55 mi ) north @-@ east from Salisbury , for a few days in the bush on Operation Hurricane , the Army 's operational area which covered Rhodesia 's north @-@ east against guerrilla activity . After this passed without major incident , the Frenchmen were despatched to Rusambo , a camp in the Chimanda Tribal Trust Lands , near Rushinga , about 250 kilometres ( 160 mi ) north @-@ east from the capital and less than 20 kilometres ( 12 mi ) from the border with Mozambique . Most insurgents in this area belonged to ZANLA .
A company of men from the Territorial Force was already stationed at Rusambo , advised by a team of intelligence officers . " Sticks " of four men ( three FN FAL riflemen and an MAG gunner ) would be sent out into the bush from Rusambo for periods of up to two weeks , equipped with a radio to communicate with the base . Their task while in action was to seek out guerrillas by means of patrolling , ambushing and operating observation and listening posts . Once a group of insurgents was spotted , the stick leader would report their positions ; Rusambo would then alert the Army and request a Fireforce . If Fireforce were available , it would arrive and engage the cadres ; if not , the stick in the field would have to handle the situation itself .
At first , men from 7 Independent Company were sent out in sticks mixed with the Territorials , but problems soon arose regarding proper regimen and the language barrier . When the Frenchmen were then sent out alone , their Land Rovers prominently flying the French flag , the issue of language was resolved , but that of indiscipline remained . Though discretion was paramount if they were to observe enemy movements covertly and effectively , the men of 7 Independent Company were found to have difficulty maintaining this and sometimes made careless mistakes which risked revealing their presence . Moreover , when investigations were made of local kraals , marked tension soon arose between the Frenchmen and the local black population ; the soldiers ' ignorance of English or Shona made it very difficult for discussions to take place and , according to other Rhodesian units who came into contact with them , the French soldiers took out their frustration on the villagers , often using excessive force in their attempted interrogations . Nyamahoboko Police Station received a report of a 7 Independent Company man raping a young tribeswoman in a dense thicket , but did not act on it . According to one history of the Rhodesia Regiment , " it was indicated that the Frenchmen had received instruction that all black people were to be regarded as terrorists " .
The Rhodesian Army quickly deemed the French experiment a failure . It reassigned 7 Independent Company in late November to Marymount Mission , a small settlement to the east of Rusambo where there was a minor police station . The number of patrols they would embark on was reduced . Two of the company 's vehicles were ambushed by cadres between Marymount and Rusambo on 6 January 1978 , resulting in two men being injured , one fatally so . A week later another truck was surprised on the same bush road , resulting in one death and three serious casualties . The company was brought back from the bush four days later for rest and recuperation ( R & R ) in Salisbury .
= = = Strike = = =
During their 15 @-@ day rest periods the company 's men congregated around the Belgian @-@ owned Elizabeth Hotel , in the centre of the city at the corner of Causeway and Manica Road . Many of them became seriously disaffected when they first received their salary from the Rhodesian Army . Having apparently been misled about wages of up to R $ 1 @,@ 000 per month ( ₣ 7 @,@ 000 ) by the French recruiters , they were surprised to find that their basic monthly pay was actually R $ 245 ( ₣ 1 @,@ 800 ) , the same as a regular Rhodesian soldier . Moreover , some were upset that they had been paid in Rhodesian dollars , which because of the country 's international isolation could not easily be exchanged for foreign currencies . Although it was not as much as they had been expecting , one disenchanted veteran of the unit afterwards admitted that the tax @-@ exempt R $ 245 wage , which came with a $ 10 special @-@ unit supplement , was still more than enough money for them to live comfortably in Salisbury during their time off .
The pay dispute split the unit . About two thirds went on strike , saying they would not return to action unless the Army upped their wages and paid them in foreign currency . Meanwhile , some of the more contented Frenchmen made steps to remain permanently , buying cars and having their wives join them in Salisbury . The Army detained the strike 's ringleaders for insubordination . With neither side willing to budge — the Army refused to give the strikers extra pay or special treatment , saying this would contravene Rhodesia 's policy not to engage mercenaries — the disaffected men were repatriated to France at their own request . The Rhodesian Army considered disbanding the unit altogether , but persevered when Major de l 'Assomption convinced his superiors that his remaining men were still loyal and eager to continue serving .
= = = Second bush trip ; dissolution = = =
Starting on 11 February 1978 , 7 Independent Company spent half a week at Mount Darwin , where there was a major Army base . The company acquitted themselves well during this time , but one of their number was badly injured in a motor accident . They returned to Rusambo , where the camp was now manned by the British South Africa Police ( BSAP ) , Criminal Investigation Department and Special Branch , guarded by a group of Coloured and Indian @-@ Rhodesian soldiers . On 26 February , the Frenchmen spotted a group of seven cadres indoctrinating tribespeople at a local kraal , and called up Fireforce . The RLI men who arrived killed four of the seven , including one carrying detailed documents . The next day 7 Independent Company observed 11 guerrillas entering another kraal , but this time the Fireforce took too long to arrive . The French company took part in a large contact on 1 March , fighting alongside an RLI Fireforce against 28 cadres ; 18 insurgents were killed in this contact without loss for the Rhodesian Army .
Soon after this , two sticks from 7 Independent Company were despatched to Marymount , led by a deputy intelligence officer who began sending them out on more regular night patrols . The following months were a disaster for the locally based Rhodesian forces ; first one stick fired on another , causing an injury , then a BSAP Land Rover hit a mine , killing two members of the French company . A further Frenchman died in an ambush by insurgents before another friendly fire incident on 19 April 1978 resulted in a fatality . On several occasions during this bush trip the area was " frozen " ; regular army units were confined to their camps while the Selous Scouts operated against the guerrillas . With morale amongst the Frenchmen plummeting , bringing their unit close to collapse , its officers at Rusambo frantically worked to keep it together . The company did not last much longer once back in Salisbury for R & R. Soon after three of its troopers were placed in detention at Llewellin Barracks , the unit was formally dissolved in May 1978 . The only personnel retained by the Army were the interpreters , who were returned to their former units .
= = Legacy = =
Supported by the French , Rhodesian and South African governments and with Rhodesian logistical assistance , forces led by Denard took part in a coup d 'état in the Comoros later in May , toppling Ali Soilih ( who Denard had himself put into power three years earlier ) . The Comoros subsequently became a key location for Rhodesian " sanction @-@ busting " operations , providing a convenient end @-@ user certificate for clandestine shipments of weapons and equipment bound for Rhodesia in spite of the UN embargo . South Africa , also under a UN arms boycott because of apartheid , received war materiel through the Comoros in a similar fashion .
Some 7 Independent Company men became civilians in Rhodesia , which was reconstituted as Zimbabwe in 1980 . Two of them , Gervais Henri Alfred Boutanquoi and Simon Marc Chemouil ( both former Foreign Legionnaires ) , were executed in April 1983 , despite a late plea from French authorities for clemency , having been found guilty of robbing and murdering Richard Kraft , a Karoi café owner . Witness Mangwende , the Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs , issued a statement clarifying that the execution was for the murder and unrelated to their earlier " service as mercenaries during the time of the Smith regime . "
= Jenova Chen =
Xinghan Chen ( simplified Chinese : 陈星汉 ; traditional Chinese : 陳星漢 ; pinyin : Chén Xīnghàn ; born October 8 , 1981 ) , known professionally as Jenova Chen , is a Chinese video game designer . He is the designer of the award @-@ winning games Cloud , Flow , Flower , and Journey , and is co @-@ founder of Thatgamecompany . Chen is from Shanghai , where he earned a bachelor 's degree in computer science with a minor in digital art and design . He then moved to the United States , where he earned a master 's degree from the University of Southern California 's Interactive Media Division . While there he created Cloud and Flow , and met fellow student Kellee Santiago . After a brief period at Maxis working on Spore , he founded Thatgamecompany with Santiago and became the company 's creative director . The company signed a three @-@ game deal with Sony Computer Entertainment , and has sold Flow , Flower , and Journey through the PlayStation Network .
As Chen was born in a culture other than the culture he now lives in , he tries to make games that appeal universally to all people . His goal with his games is to help video games mature as a medium by making games that inspire emotional responses in the player that other games are lacking . Although he and Thatgamecompany can and have made more traditional games , he does not plan on commercially developing any of them , as he does not think that it fits with their goals as an independent video game developer .
= = Biography = =
Chen was born in Shanghai on October 8 , 1981 , and lived there until 2003 . His parents were " a middle @-@ class family " , and his father worked in the software development industry , having previously worked on " one of the earliest giant computers in China " . Although Chen was interested in art and drawing as a young child , his father influenced him towards computers , entering him in programming contests from when he was 10 years old . He found himself interested in video games that he saw there , but was not as enthusiastic about programming . While a teenager , he had deep emotional experiences with games that he played , including The Legend of Sword and Fairy , which he ascribes to the fact that he was not as exposed to books , films , or life events that other people would have had those experiences with . These experiences drove him to try to create those types of feelings in games as an adult , when more emotional maturity had caused his " standards to rise " in what would move him in a game . It was during high school that he chose the English name Jenova after a character in Final Fantasy VII , wanting a name that would be unique anywhere he used it as there were " thousands of Jason Chens " .
He earned a degree in Computer Science & Engineering in Shanghai Jiao Tong University , which due to his background in computers he found " quite easy " , but describes himself as spending much of his time there teaching himself digital art and animation , and later did a minor in digital art and design at Donghua University . Still interested in video games , he was involved in making three video games as part of a student group while in school . Upon graduating , he had trouble finding a job in the Chinese video game industry that combined his interests of " engineering , art , and design " , and additionally felt that " very few games [ had ] actually achieved those qualities that would be interesting to an adult " . He also considered working in digital animation for films .
He then went to the United States to earn a master 's degree in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California . Chen studied in the Interactive Media Program , a new division of the School of Cinematic Arts . His intention at the time was to use the degree to get the kind of job he wanted back in China . At USC , he became inspired when he went to the Game Developers Conference , where he positively compared the games he had made in college with the student work present at the Independent Games Festival portion of the conference . While at USC he met Kellee Santiago , another student in the same program , and the two decided to work together on games that would be outside of the mainstream . Their first game , which won a grant of twenty thousand dollars from USC to produce , was Cloud , released in 2005 , which " focuses on a young hospital patient who soars in his mind despite being trapped indoors " . The idea was partially based on himself , as when he was a child he was often hospitalized for asthma . It was designed as an attempt to " expand the spectrum of emotions video games evoke " . At a student showcase at the Game Developers Conference , Chen and Santiago showed the game to a representative from Sony , John Hight , saying that it was the first game in the " Zen " genre . Hight was interested , though no deal was forthcoming . The game won the Best Student Philosophy award at the Slamdance Guerilla Games Competition and a Student Showcase award at the Independent Games Festival , and was showcased on Spike TV , G4TV , and CBS Sunday .
Chen felt that the reason that Cloud had been so warmly received was because the emotions it sparked in players were different than any other game available at the time , and believed that it was his " calling " to make more games that changed what people saw video games as . Chen went on to do his master 's thesis the following year in the concept of dynamic difficulty adjustment , where the game adjusts how it reacts to the player based on the past and present actions of that player . Chen illustrated his ideas with Flow , a Flash game made with Nicholas Clark . The game involves the player guiding an aquatic microorganism through various depths of the ocean , consuming other organisms and evolving in the process . It was released in March 2006 ; it received 100 @,@ 000 downloads in its first two weeks and by July had been downloaded over 650 @,@ 000 times . A PlayStation 3 version was announced in May 2006 as a downloadable game via the PlayStation Store , and was released in February 2007 . A version for the PlayStation Portable , developed by SuperVillain Studios , was released in March 2008 . Flow became the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007 , and won Best Downloadable Game at the Game Developers Choice Awards .
After graduating , Chen and Santiago formed their own game company , Thatgamecompany , in Los Angeles where he still lives and signed a deal with Sony for three PlayStation Store games . The PS3 version of Flow was the first , and while it was in development Chen worked for Maxis on the game Spore . Upon Flow 's release , Chen returned to Thatgamecompany and began working on their second game .
= = = Thatgamecompany = = =
The next game , Flower , was Chen and Thatgamecompany 's " first game outside the safety net of academia " . Chen was the creative director in charge of the game , while Santiago was the producer and Clark was the lead designer . The company ranged in size from six to nine people at varying stages of the game 's development . Flower was intended by Chen to primarily to provoke positive emotions in the player , and to act as " an emotional shelter " . Chen described the game as " an interactive poem exploring the tension between urban and nature " . He decided on a " nature " theme early in the development process , saying that he " had this concept that every PlayStation is like a portal in your living room , it leads you to somewhere else . I thought ; wouldn 't it be nice if it was a portal that would allow you to be embraced by nature . " Chen designed the game around the idea that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the feelings that they evoked in the audience , and that the emotional range of most games was very limited . To make Flower have the " emotional spectrum " that he wanted , Chen looked at the development process as creating a work of art , rather than a " fun " game , which would not provoke the desired emotions . In 2008 , during Flower 's development , Chen was named to the MIT Technology Review TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35 .
After Flower was released to critical praise and awards , Chen and Thatgamecompany moved on to their next game , Journey . Journey was intended by Chen to focus on the element of communication and social interaction in video games . Since in most games the communication between players is focused on specific goals , in Journey Chen intended for the player to be able to either play alone or to come across other players , but not be able to communicate with them directly . Instead , players have to build relationships with each other through their actions , helping each other or leaving as they choose . Journey was released on the PlayStation Network on March 13 , 2012 , and has received critical acclaim .
= = Influences and philosophy = =
Chen plays a wide variety of video games , but he names his greatest influences as Katamari Damacy , Ico and Shadow of the Colossus . He also names Final Fantasy VII as an influence , and the game that he took his adopted name from . He personally plays games " competitively " , including titles such as Street Fighter IV and StarCraft . He feels he has a competitive nature , which he has turned towards " winning " at being a game designer by creating games that are unlike what is in the market rather than towards creating competitive games . As he was raised in China and works in America , Chen feels that he cannot fully relate to either culture as a game designer . As such , instead of trying to make games that fit perfectly with one culture he tries to make games that tap into feelings that are universal and independent of culture .
When Chen quit Maxis to re @-@ join Thatgamecompany , he did so knowing that it would mean taking less pay and having a less stable career . He felt , though , that it was important to the industry and medium as a whole to create games that provoked different emotional responses in the player than just excitement or fear . While Chen is not opposed to making action games , and his company has made internal " exciting " games that were well received at Sony , he feels that there is no point to Thatgamecompany commercially producing games like that instead of working for existing game developers , as they would not be making anything new that justified the cost of remaining an independent studio . Similarly , Chen does not intend for Thatgamecompany to make " big budget blockbuster games " , as the pressure on profits that that entails would stifle the innovation that he wants Thatgamecompany to focus on . Chen believes that for video games to become a mature medium like film , the industry as a whole needs to create a wide range of emotional responses to their games , similar to how film has thriller , romance , and comedy genres based on the emotions they provoke . He feels that there are only three ways for video games to impact adults in the same way they do children : " intellectually , whereby the work reveals a new perspective about the world that you have not seen before , " by " emotionally touching someone , " and " by creating a social environment where the intellectual or emotional stimulation could happen from other people . "
= E. W. Hornung =
Ernest William Hornung ( 7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921 ) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th @-@ century London . Hornung was educated at Uppingham School ; as a result of poor health he left the school in December 1883 to travel to Sydney , where he stayed for two years . He drew on his Australian experiences as a background when he began writing , initially short stories and later novels .
In 1898 he wrote " In the Chains of Crime " , which introduced Raffles and his sidekick , Bunny Manders ; the characters were based partly on his friends Oscar Wilde and his lover , Lord Alfred Douglas , and also on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson . The series of Raffles short stories were collected for sale in book form in 1899 , and two further books of Raffles short stories followed , as well as a poorly received novel . Aside from his Raffles stories , Hornung was a prodigious writer of fiction , publishing numerous books from 1890 , with A Bride from the Bush to his 1914 novel The Crime Doctor .
The First World War brought an end to Hornung 's fictional output . His son , Oscar , was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres in July 1915 . Hornung joined the YMCA , initially in England , then in France , where he helped run a canteen and library . He published two collections of poetry during the war , and then , afterwards , one further volume of verse and an account of his time spent in France , Notes of a Camp @-@ Follower on the Western Front . Hornung 's fragile constitution was further weakened by the stress of his war work . To aid his recuperation , he and his wife visited the south of France in 1921 . He fell ill from influenza on the journey , and died on 22 March 1921 , aged 54 .
Although much of Hornung 's work has fallen into obscurity , his Raffles stories continued to be popular , and have formed numerous film and television adaptations . Hornung 's stories dealt with a wider range of themes than crime : he examined scientific and medical developments , guilt , class and the unequal role played by women in society . Two threads that run through a sizeable proportion of his books are Australia and cricket ; the latter was also a lifelong passion .
= = Biography = =
= = = Early life : 1866 – 86 = = =
Hornung was born Ernest William Hornung on 7 June 1866 at Cleveland Villas , Marton , Middlesbrough ; he was nicknamed Willie from an early age . He was the third son , and youngest of eight children , of John Peter Hornung ( 1821 – 86 ) and his wife Harriet née Armstrong ( 1824 – 96 ) . John was christened Johan Petrus Hornung in the Transylvania region of Hungary and , after working in Hamburg for a shipping firm , had moved to Britain in the 1840s as a coal and iron merchant . John married Harriet in March 1848 , by which time he had anglicised his name . At the age of 13 Hornung joined St Ninian 's Preparatory School in Moffat , Dumfriesshire before enrolling at Uppingham School in 1880 . Hornung was well liked at school , and developed a lifelong love of cricket despite limited skills at the game , which were further worsened by bad eyesight , asthma and , according to his biographer Peter Rowland , a permanent state of generally poor health .
When Hornung was 17 his health worsened ; he left Uppingham and travelled to Australia , where it was hoped by his family that the climate would be beneficial . On his arrival he was employed as a tutor to the Parsons family in Mossgiel in the Riverina , south @-@ western New South Wales . In addition to teaching , he spent time working in remote sheep stations in the outback and contributing material to the weekly magazine The Bulletin ; he also began writing what was to become his first novel . Although he spent only two years in Australia , the experience was " the making of him and ... the making of his career as a writer " , according to Rowland . Another biographer , Mark Valentine , wrote that Hornung " seems to have regarded this period as one of the most satisfying of his life " .
= = = Return to England : 1886 – 98 = = =
Hornung returned to England in February 1886 , before the death of his father in November . From a position of relative prosperity , John 's coal and iron business had encountered difficulties and he was in financially straitened circumstances by the time of his death . Hornung found work in London as a journalist and story writer , often publishing his work under a pseudonym , although in 1887 he published his first story under his own name , " Stroke of Five " , which appeared in Belgravia magazine . His work as a journalist was during the period of Jack the Ripper and the series of five murders , which were undertaken against a background of rising urban crime in London ; it was around this time that Hornung developed an interest in criminal behaviour .
Hornung had worked on the novel manuscript he brought back from Australia and , between July and November 1890 , the story , " A Bride from the Bush " , was published in five parts in the Cornhill Magazine . It was also released that year as a book — his first . The story — described by Rowland as an " assured , graceful comedy of manners " — used Hornung 's knowledge of Australia as a backdrop , and the device of an Australian bride to examine British social behaviour ; the novel was well received by critics . In 1891 Hornung became a member of two cricket clubs : the Idlers , whose members included Arthur Conan Doyle , Robert Barr and Jerome K. Jerome , and the Strand club .
Hornung knew Doyle 's sister , Constance ( " Connie " ) Aimée Monica Doyle ( 1868 – 1924 ) , whom he had met when he visited Portugal . Connie was described by Doyle 's biographer , Andrew Lycett , as being attractive , " with pre @-@ Raphaelite looks ... the most sought @-@ after of the Doyle daughters " . By December 1892 , when Hornung , Doyle and Jerome visited the Black Museum at Scotland Yard , Hornung and Connie were engaged , and in 1893 Hornung dedicated his second novel , Tiny Luttrell , " to C.A.M.D. " They were married on 27 September 1893 , although Doyle was not at the wedding and relations between the two writers were sometimes strained . The Hornungs had a son , Arthur Oscar , in 1895 ; while his first name was from Doyle , who was also Arthur 's godfather , the boy 's middle name was probably after Doyle and Hornung 's mutual friend Oscar Wilde and it was by his second name that he was known . In 1894 Doyle and Hornung began work on a play for Henry Irving , on the subject of boxing during the Regency ; Doyle was initially eager and paid Hornung £ 50 as a down payment before he withdrew after the first act had been written : the work was never completed .
Like Hornung 's first novel , Tiny Luttrell had Australia as a backdrop and also used the plot device of an Australian woman in a culturally alien environment . The Australian theme was present in his next four novels : The Boss of Taroomba ( 1894 ) , The Unbidden Guest ( 1894 ) , Irralie 's Bushranger ( 1896 ) and The Rogue 's March ( 1896 ) . In the last of these Hornung wrote of the Australian convict transport system , and showed evidence of a " growing fascination with the motivation behind criminal behaviour and a deliberate sympathy for the criminal hero as a victim of events " , while Irralie 's Bushranger introduced the character Stingaree , an Oxford @-@ educated , Australian gentleman thief , in a novel that " casts doubt on conventional responses " to a positive criminal character , according to Hornung 's biographer , Stephen Knight .
= = = Introducing Raffles : 1898 – 1914 = = =
In 1898 Hornung 's mother died , aged 72 and he dedicated his next book , a series of short stories titled Some Persons Unknown , to her memory . Later that year Hornung and his wife visited Italy for six months , staying in Posillipo ; his account of the location appeared in an article of the May 1899 edition of Cornhill Magazine . The Hornungs returned to London in early 1899 , to a house in Pitt Street , West Kensington , where they lived for the next six years .
The fictional character Stingaree proved to be a prototype of a character Hornung used in a series of six short stories published in 1898 in Cassell 's Magazine , A. J. Raffles . The character was modelled on George Cecil Ives , a Cambridge @-@ educated criminologist and talented cricketer who , like Raffles , was a resident of the Albany , a gentlemen 's only residence in Mayfair . The first tale of the series " In the Chains of Crime " was published in June that year , titled " The Ides of March " . The stories were collected into one volume — with two additional tales — under the name The Amateur Cracksman , which was published the following year . Hornung used a narrative form similar to Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes stories , with Raffles and his partner @-@ in @-@ crime ( and former school fag ) Bunny Manders being the criminal counterparts to Holmes and Dr. Watson — although Rowland writes that Raffles and Manders " were also fictionalized versions of Wilde and Bosie " ( Wilde 's lover , Lord Alfred Douglas ) . — and he dedicated the stories to his brother @-@ in @-@ law : " To A.C.D. This form of flattery " . Doyle had warned against writing the stories , and reflected in his memoirs that " there are few finer examples of short @-@ story writing in our language than these , though I confess I think they are rather dangerous in their suggestion . I told him so before he put pen to paper , and the result has , I fear , borne me out . You must not make the criminal the hero " . The book was a popular and financial success , although some critics also echoed Doyle 's fears . The reviewer in The Spectator wrote that " stern moralists " would consider the book 's premise " as a new , ingenious , artistic , but most reprehensible application of the crude principles involved in the old @-@ fashioned hero @-@ worship of Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin " . The book ends with Manders imprisoned and Raffles apparently dead , something that left The Spectator reviewer " expressing [ their ] satisfaction that this audaciously entertaining volume is not issued in a cheap form . It is emphatically a feat of virtuosity rather than a tribute to virtue . "
After publishing two novels , Dead Men Don 't Tell Tales in 1899 and Peccavi in 1900 , Hornung published a second collection of Raffles stories , The Black Mask , in 1901 . The nearly broke Manders is told to apply for the post of a nurse to an elderly invalid , who then reveals himself to be Raffles , who , as Manders describes , had " aged twenty years ; he looked fifty at the very least . His hair was white ; there was no trick about that ; and his face was another white . The lines about the corners of the eyes and mouth were both many and deep " . In the final story of the collection , " The Knees of the Gods " , Raffles and Manders enlist in the army to fight in the Second Boer War ; the story closes with Manders wounded and Raffles killed . The critics again complained about the criminal aspect ; The Spectator declared " this sort of book presents crime in a form too entertaining and attractive to be moral " , while the reviewer for The Illustrated London News thought that Hornung 's " invention has obviously flagged ... It is laughable , in a sense which the author never intended , to hear these burglars rant about the honour of Old England . It is a pity that the man who wrote Peccavi should stoop to this " .
In 1903 Hornung collaborated with Eugène Presbrey to write a four @-@ act play , Raffles , The Amateur Cracksman , which was based on two previously published short stories , " Gentlemen and Players " and " The Return Match " . The play was first performed at the Princess Theatre , New York , on 27 October 1903 with Kyrle Bellew as Raffles , and ran for 168 performances .
In 1905 , after publishing four other books in the interim , Hornung brought back the character Stingaree , previously seen in Irralie 's Bushranger . Later that year he responded to public demand and produced a third series of short Raffles stories in A Thief in the Night , in which Manders relates some of his and Raffles 's earlier adventures . The reviewer for the Boston Herald thought that " the sentimental side of the story has never before been shown so dramatically and romantically " , and described the book as " thrilling and exciting " . Hornung 's next book was published in 1909 and was the final Raffles story , the full @-@ length novel Mr. Justice Raffles ; the book was poorly received , with the reviewer for The Observer asking if " Hornung is perhaps a little tired of Raffles " , and stating that " it has not the magic or the ' go ' of the first Raffles , and there is no good in pretending that it has " . During the course of the year he collaborated with Charles Sansom to write a play A Visit From Raffles , which was performed in November that year at the Brixton Empress Theatre , London .
Hornung turned away from Raffles thereafter , and in February 1911 published The Camera Fiend , a thriller whose narrator is an asthmatic cricket enthusiast with an ironmaster father , much as Hornung was himself . The story concerned the attempts of a scientist to photograph the soul as it left the body . Hornung followed this up with Fathers of Men ( 1912 ) and The Thousandth Woman ( 1913 ) before Witching Hill ( 1913 ) , a collection of eight short stories in which he introduced the characters Uvo Delavoye and the narrator Gillon , whom Rowland considers to be " reincarnations of Raffles and Bunny " . Hornung 's next work , The Crime Doctor ( 1914 ) marked the end of his fictional output .
= = = First World War and aftermath = = =
Oscar Hornung left Eton College in 1914 , intending to enter King 's College , Cambridge later that year . When Britain entered the war against Germany , he volunteered , and was commissioned into the Essex Regiment . He was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres on 6 July 1915 , aged 20 . Although heartbroken by the loss , Hornung was adamant that some good would come of it and he edited a privately issued collection of Oscar 's letters home under the title Trusty and Well Beloved , released in 1916 . Around this time he joined an anti @-@ aircraft unit . In either 1916 or 1917 he joined the YMCA and did volunteer work in England for soldiers on leave ; in March 1917 he visited France , writing a poem about his experience afterwards — something he had been doing more frequently since Oscar 's death — and a collection of his war poetry , Ballad of Ensign Joy , was published later that year .
In July 1917 Hornung 's poem , " Wooden Crosses " , was published in The Times , and in September , " Bond and Free " appeared . Towards the end of the year , he was accepted as a volunteer in a YMCA canteen and library " a short distance behind the Front Line " . During his service in Arras , in February 1918 he borrowed a staff car from a friend and visited his son 's grave near Ypres , before returning to the library in Arras . Hornung was concerned about support for pacifism among troops , and wrote to his wife about it . When she spoke to Doyle about the matter , rather than discussing it with Hornung he informed the military authorities . Hornung was angered by Doyle 's action , and " told him there was no need for him to ' butt in ' except for his own ' satisfaction ' . " Relations between the two men were strained as a result . Hornung continued to work at the library until the German Spring Offensive in March overran the British positions and he was forced to retreat , firstly to Amiens and then , in April , back to England . He stayed in England until November 1918 , when he again took up his YMCA duties , establishing a rest hut and library in Cologne . In 1919 Hornung 's account of his time spent in France , Notes of a Camp @-@ Follower on the Western Front , was published . Doyle later wrote of the book that " there are parts of it which are brilliant in their vivid portrayal " , while Hornung 's biographer , Alison Cox , described the book as " one of the best records of the war as experienced on the front lines " . That year Hornung also published his third and final volume of poetry , The Young Guard .
= = = Death and legacy = = =
Hornung finished his work with the YMCA and returned to England probably in early 1919 , according to Rowland . He worked on a new novel but was hampered by poor health . His wife 's health was of even greater concern , so in February 1921 they took a holiday in the south of France to recuperate . He fell ill on the train with a chill that turned into influenza and pneumonia from which he died on 22 March 1921 , aged 54 . He was buried in Saint @-@ Jean @-@ de @-@ Luz , in the south of France , in a grave adjacent to that of Gissing . Doyle , returning from a spiritualist lecture tour of Australia , received the news in Paris and travelled south in time for the funeral .
When Hornung had still been courting Doyle 's sister , Doyle wrote that " I like young Willie Hornung very much ... he is one of the sweetest @-@ natured and most delicate @-@ minded men I ever knew " . Honouring him after his death , Doyle wrote that he " was a Dr. [ Samuel ] Johnson without the learning but with a finer wit . No one could say a neater thing , and his writings , good as they are , never adequately represented the powers of the man , nor the quickness of his brain " . His obituarist in The Times described him as " a man of large and generous nature , a delightful companion and conversationalist " .
Much of Hornung 's work fell out of favour as time passed ; Rowland observed that " all of Hornung 's other works have been forgotten , with the possible exception of Stingaree , but the cricketing Cracksman continues to enthral " . The idea of a criminal as a positive character was one of Hornung 's legacies , and Twentieth @-@ Century Literary Criticism states that " critics have also interpreted Raffles as a prototype of the antihero in modern crime fiction " . The academic Frank Wadleigh Chandler , describing Raffles 's death , writes that " all his creator 's attempts to portray him as a hero , rather than an anti @-@ hero , deservedly fail . " Valentine highlights one aspect of the stories was the mix of " devilry and daring " demonstrated by Raffles ; in this respect he was a literary " forerunner of The Saint , James Bond and other insouciant types " . The writer Colin Watson agrees , and called Hornung " a precursor of [ Ian ] Fleming " .
The character continued in book form : the writer Philip Atkey , under the pseudonym Barry Perowne , obtained permission from the Hornung estate to continue the Raffles stories , and seven more novels followed between 1933 and 1940 , with Raffles transformed from a gentleman thief to a tough adventurer . Perowne continued the series in 1950 , and 14 of his stories were published in the 1974 volume Raffles Revisited . Hornung 's original stories have undergone a number of reprints , and when all the short stories were published in a single volume , Graham Greene considered it " a splendid idea " . In 1975 Greene had written a play based on the Raffles stories , The Return of A.J. Raffles , which premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company , with Denholm Elliott as Raffles .
There were several Raffles films made during Hornung 's lifetime , Further films followed in the years after his death , including Raffles , the Amateur Cracksman ( 1925 ) , with House Peters , Sr. ; Raffles ( 1930 ) , featuring Ronald Colman ; The Return of Raffles ( 1933 ) , with George Barraud ; and Raffles ( 1939 ) , starring David Niven ; the last of these was a Samuel Goldwyn Productions remake of their own 1930 film , which the academic Victor E. Neuburg called the " most memorable portrayal " of the character .