25 Facts About Toby Graham

Toby Graham is best known for his collaboration with British military historian Shelford Bidwell.

Toby Graham was wounded twice, spent time as a prisoner of war in Italy, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1945.

Toby Graham earned his Master's degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1965, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of London in 1969.

Toby Graham taught military history at the University of New Brunswick until his 1986 retirement, at which point he was named professor emeritus, and returned to England.

Dominick Stuart Toby Graham was born in Yeovil, England, on 24 July 1920, the son of Colonel Fergus Reginald Winsford Toby Graham and Egeria Marion Spottiswood Baker.

Toby Graham's father was a soldier who had served in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and China.

Toby Graham's family nicknamed him "Toby" because when he was a baby they thought he looked like Toby the Dog in Punch and Judy.

Toby Graham was educated at Bradfield College, and entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in January 1939.

Toby Graham's training was shortened by the outbreak of the Second World War.

Toby Graham graduated from Woolwich on 4 November 1939, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery of the British Army.

Toby Graham was promoted to lieutenant on 4 May 1941.

In July 1942, Toby Graham was serving as a Forward Observer near Tobruk, Libya, during the Western Desert campaign, when his vehicle was hit, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans, and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Italy.

Toby Graham's first escape attempt was through a sewer near Chieti, but was unsuccessful.

Toby Graham was then taken to a camp at Fontanellato, from which he again escaped.

Toby Graham was freed after the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, and made his way back to Allied lines through Italy, evading German patrols, and eventually reaching a village near Ortona, where he was discovered by a Canadian patrol.

Toby Graham commanded the British Army's first missile-equipped artillery battery.

Toby Graham was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 1 July 1946, and major on 4 November 1952.

Toby Graham married Valerie Mary Greig on 18 October 1947; they had two daughters, Anita Caroline and Patricia Robin.

Toby Graham retired from the British Army on 20 December 1958.

Toby Graham represented Great Britain in cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics at Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, where he finished 29th of 33 competitors in the men's 50 kilometres.

Toby Graham taught military history at the University of New Brunswick until 1986, when his marriage broke up and he decided to retire and return to England.

Toby Graham received the news of his appointment as emeritus while climbing K2 in the Himalayas.

Toby Graham married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Hawson in 1991, and they settled in Yorkshire, where he worked on her family estate and gardens.

Toby Graham is best known for his collaboration with British military historian Shelford Bidwell, a fellow military historian and former Royal Artillery officer, whom he first met at a bar near Sandhurst after a seminar on the use of artillery on the Western Front of the First World War.

Toby Graham wrote an autobiography, The Escapes and Evasions of 'An Obstinate Bastard.