Alan Caillou
| Alan Caillou | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 November 1914 Surrey, England |
| Died |
1 October 2006 (aged 91) Sedona, Arizona |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Author, actor, screenwriter, soldier, policeman and professional hunter |
Alan Caillou was the nom de plume of Alan Samuel Lyle-Smythe M.B.E., M.C. (9 November 1914 – 1 October 2006), an English born author, actor, screenwriter, soldier, policeman and professional hunter.
Alan Lyle-Smythe was born in Surrey, England. Prior to World War II he served with the Palestine Police from 1936 to 1939, where he learned the Arabic language. He was awarded an MBE in June 1938. He married Aliza Sverdova in 1939, then studied acting from 1939–1941.
In January 1940, Lyle-Smythe was commissioned in the Royal Army Service Corps. Due to his linguistic skills, he transferred to the Intelligence Corps and served in the Western Desert where he used the surname "Caillou" (the French word for 'stone') as an alias. He was captured in North Africa, imprisoned and threatened with execution in Italy, then escaped to join the British forces at Salerno. He was then posted to serve with the partisans in Yugoslavia. He wrote about his experiences in the book The World is Six Feet Square (1954). He was promoted to Captain and awarded the Military Cross in 1944.
Following the war he returned to the Palestine Police from 1946 to 1947 then served as a Police Commissioner in British occupied Italian Somaliland from 1947 to 1952 where he was recommissioned a Captain. He wrote of these years in the book Sheba Slept Here.
After work as a District Officer in Somalia and professional hunter, Lyle-Smythe travelled to Canada, where he worked as a hunter and then became an actor on Canadian television.
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