The Life and World of Francis Rodd, Lord Rennell (1895–1978)

267 Pages·2021·4.094 MB·English

by  Philip Boobbyer

i
The Life and World of Francis Rodd,

Lord Rennell (1895–1 978)
ii
iii
The Life and World of Francis

Rodd, Lord Rennell (1895– 1978)
Geography, Money and War
Philip Boobbyer
iv
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2021
by ANTHEM PRESS
75– 76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Philip Boobbyer 2021
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN- 13: 978- 1- 78527- 662- 0 (Hbk)
ISBN- 10: 1- 78527- 662- X (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e- book.
v
To

Rodd’s grandchildren and great grandchildren
vi
vii
CONTENTS

List of Figures ix
List of Abbreviations xi
A Note on Names xiii
Acknowledgements xv
A Personal Note xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter One Family and Youth 7
Chapter Two The First World War 23
Chapter Three Into the Sahara 45
Chapter Four International Banker 75
Chapter Five Negotiating with Italy 101
Chapter Six West Africa, 1940 119
Chapter Seven East Africa in Transition 137
Chapter Eight AMGOT (Allied Military Government of
Occupied Territories) 163
Chapter Nine ‘Jack of Many Trades’ 187
Conclusion 213
Sources and Bibliography 221
Index 237
viii
ix
FIGURES

1.1 James Rennell Rodd, c. 1920 14
1.2 Lilias Rodd (née Guthrie). Lithograph, 1894 15
1.3 Balliol College second eight, 1914 20
2.1 Rodd as a soldier in the Royal Field Artillery 25
3.1 Rodd with T’ekhmedin, 1922 52
3.2 Extract from a map of Aïr made in 1910 by Captain Cortier 55
3.3 Map of the trade roads of the Sahara, designed by Rodd 56
3.4 Agellal village and mountains 60
3.5 Peter Rodd, Augustine Courtauld and Francis Rodd 63
4.1 Francis and Mary's wedding, 3 August 1928 88
5.1 The Rodd 116
6.1 Rodd on Charles de Gaulle, extract from letter to Mary 133
7.1 Rodd sitting alongside Philip Mitchell, Nairobi, c. 1941 142
8.1 British soldiers in Catania, 5 August 1943 168
9.1 Evelyn Emmet, 1958 193
9.2 Rodd speaking at the Douglas Aircraft Company, Santa Monica,
California, November 1956 198
9.3 Rodd, c. late 1950s 206
9.4 The Boy Jesus and the Shepherd, 1974. Etching in Chinese ink
by Mary Rodd/Rennell 209
C.1 Rodd’s gravestone, designed by David Kindersley 214
x