https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=88.111.65.6Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-06T06:55:14ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hilary_Hook&diff=121153Hilary Hook2021-07-07T12:53:59Z<p>88.111.65.6: Fixed age.</p>
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<div>{{refimprove|date=February 2018}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2012}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}<br />
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{{Infobox military person<br />
| name = Hilary Hook<br />
| birth_date = 26 September 1917<br />
| death_date = 14 September 1990 (aged 72)<br />
| image = Hilary Hook on After Dark.JPG<br />
| image_size = 275<br />
| caption = Appearing on television programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' in June 1987<br />
| allegiance = [[British Empire]]<br />
| rank = [[Lieutenant-Colonel]]<br />
| serviceyears = 1938–1964<br />
}}<br />
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Lieutenant-Colonel '''Hilary Hook''' (26 September 1917 – 14 September 1990) was a soldier in armies of the [[British Empire]] in [[India]] and later in [[Africa]].<br />
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Hook was born on 26 September 1917 and was educated at [[Canford School]], [[Dorset]], and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], after which he was commissioned into the Unattached List of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] on 27 January 1938. From 1 April 1938 he was attached to the 1st battalion the Queen's Regiment. He was admitted to the Indian Army on 27 November 1939 and posted to the [[Royal Deccan Horse (9th Horse)]]. He was promoted lieutenant on 27 April 1940 and captain on 27 January 1946.<br />
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During the [[World War II|Second World War]] Hook served in [[New Guinea]] and [[Burma]]. He transferred to the [[7th Hussars]] (later the [[Queen's Own Hussars]]) as a [[Captain (land and air)|Captain]] on 28 June 1947. Later postings included [[Aden]], [[Germany]], [[Hong Kong]], and the [[Sudan]]. He was promoted major on 27 January 1951 and finally retired the service as an honorary lieutenant-colonel on 13 October 1964.<br />
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Hook became famous with the [[United Kingdom|British]] public in the 1980s as the result of a [[BBC]] [[documentary film|documentary]] entitled ''Home from the Hill'' directed by [[Molly Dineen]]. This portrayed him as having led a full life of adventure in the [[British Empire]], before coming home to an England which had changed out of all recognition to the one he remembered. Memorable scenes included Hook relaxing on the veranda of the game lodge he ran in [[Kenya]] while an African servant mowed the lawn, and back in England attempting to operate a kitchen appliance and voicing his displeasure at a pop music act on television.<br />
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The documentary was based on Hook's autobiographical book ''Home from the Hill'', in which he describes participation in activities such as [[Boar hunting|pig-sticking]], elephant hunting and [[polo]]. It deals with the themes of [[colonialism]], [[international development]], and the end of the British Empire – in particular, through his alienation from the modern world having lived all his life in a vastly different culture. The phrase 'home from the hill' is from a line of [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s poem "Requiem": ''Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill''. <br />
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On his return to England, Hook settled at [[Westbury, Wiltshire]]. On 12 June 1987, the night after the British General Election, he appeared on a [[After Dark (TV series)#Teresa Gorman and .22Is Britain Working.3F.22|memorable edition]] of ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' on [[Channel 4]].<ref>[[After Dark (TV series)#Teresa Gorman and Is Britain Working?|''After Dark'']] article, accessed 30 March 2009</ref><br />
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He died in September 1990 at the age of 72.<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Sudan Defence Force]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060929081537/http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/dineenm/f-ftd.html Molly Dineen's CV, with details of Home from the Hill documentary]<br />
* ''[[London Gazette]]'' (various dates)<br />
* ''Indian Army List'' (various dates)<br />
* ''The Half-Yearly Army List'', February 1950<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hook, Hilary}}<br />
[[Category:1917 births]]<br />
[[Category:1990 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:7th Queen's Own Hussars officers]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Canford School]]<br />
[[Category:Queen's Own Hussars officers]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Tank Regiment officers]]</div>88.111.65.6