Faith, Hope & Heroism

Through the bomb-bursts and ack-ack that once made Malta about the hottest spot this side of hell appeared an old familiar face last week. Its somewhat-forgotten owner was Major General John Hay Beith, better known to U.S. readers by his pen name: Ian Hay. Author Hay's The First Hundred Thousand was the biggest best-seller among World War I war books until Private Peat and Arthur Guy Empey's Over the Top went over the top.

Malta Epic (Appleton-Century; $3), Author Hay's first book about World War II, may or may not be a bestseller. But it is the most crackling and inclusive of several recent books about "the most bombed spot on earth."* The concussive quality of Author Hay's Malta narrative is measureable in part by three Malta facts:

> When its 29-months' air-&-sea siege began, Malta's air defenses consisted of three dated biplanes, named Faith, Hope and Charity.

> During the siege, the island of Malta was awarded the George Cross--Britain's highest award for civilian gallantry--for its people's collective courage.

> Malta now serves as a rock-ribbed mother ship for the invasion of Italy.

To these bare bones of history, Author Hay's book gives heroism and humanity.

The Author. Tall, soldierly, Scottish Ian Hay is one of the British writers most read by Britons. His 27 books have had total sales of over three million copies. Few authors have a better background for writing military narratives. A 36-year-old lieutenant in the famed Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Author Hay emerged from World War I a captain, from the Battle of Loos with the Military Cross. Says Hay: "I think I was given the M.C. for being the only survivor." His First Hundred Thousand became so popular in the U.S. in 1915 that Author Hay was later sent over to whoop it up for the Empire. ("I always get on with Americans," says Hay. "I love them.")

Author Hay was a science master when readers noticed his first novel, Pip (1907), a sentimental journey into average British boyhood. In the next five years, the sales of three more boysome novels made Pip into a mere squeak. Author Hay gave up teaching for writing. His most successful novels: A Knight on Wheels, A Man's Man, A Safety Match. He hit the jackpot again with Britain's popular melofarce, Tilly of Bloomsbury.

In 1938 Hay published a popular history of the British Army (original title: The King's Service). Now called The British Infantryman, the book is a strong seller among the paper-covered Penguins.

Too old now (67) for an official job, Major General John Hay Beith, C.B.E., M.C., is not too old to write. He is working on an Army-boy-meets-Army-girl play. He also finds time to be: an officer of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, a Governor of Guy's Hospital, president of the Dramatists' Club, one of the three finest toxophilists (bow-shots) in England, a member of the Royal Company of Archers. For the duration he is living in a tiny London flat. His swank Mayfair house, he explains, is inhabited by "40 American lady warriors."

* Some of the others: Malta Magnificent, by Major Francis Gerard; Malta Spitfire, by George F. Beurling and Leslie Roberts; Malta Story, by W. L. River.

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