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Brian Johnston
Brian Alexander Johnston CBE MC (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until his death in January 1994.
Brian Alexander Johnston was born on Monday, 24 June 1912 at the Old Rectory, Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, the youngest of four children (elder siblings were Anne, Michael and Christopher). His paternal grandfather, Reginald Eden Johnston, had been Governor of the Bank of England between 1909 and 1911. The World War II airborne division commander Frederick 'Boy' Browning was his first cousin. On 27 August 1922, his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Evelyn Johnston, DSO, MC, who managed the family coffee business, drowned at Widemouth Sands near Bude, Cornwall at the age of 44. In 1924, his mother married one of her husband's military colleagues, Captain Marcus Scully, who became his stepfather. After the marriage ended in divorce, she reverted to her original married name.
Johnston was educated at Temple Grove Preparatory School (1920–25) and then at Eton (1925–31), where he played cricket for the school's 2nd XI. He subsequently went on to New College, Oxford (1931–34), where he graduated with a third in History in 1934. At Oxford he was a keen cricketer, keeping wicket for his college team, Oxford Authentics, and also for the Eton Ramblers and I Zingari, but he never managed to progress to the Varsity side.
After Oxford, Johnston joined the family's coffee business, where he worked until 1939, but admitted years later that he had little interest or liking for the work. After a year at head office in the City of London, he was transferred to the Hamburg office in 1935, as Germany was an important market for Brazilian coffee.
The following year, he travelled to Santos, Brazil, where he worked in the company office for 18 months. However, in 1938, he was struck down with an acute neurological condition and had to return to London. After several months' convalescence he returned to the City office in October but resigned the following year to join the army on the outbreak of the Second World War.
In September 1939, Johnston joined the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, and was sent for officer training to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Following this, he was posted to the Grenadiers Training Battalion, based at Windsor, in the spring of 1940, where he served as a Technical Adjutant. His unit was due to join the British Expeditionary Force in France during May, but these plans were overtaken by the retreat from Dunkirk. He remained stationed in the United Kingdom until the invasion of Europe in the summer of 1944, when his battalion landed at Arromanches on the Normandy coast some three weeks after D Day. In the winter of 1944 and early spring of 1945, Johnston and his armoured division were in the thick of the allied advance, crossing the Rhine and fighting their way up to Bremen and Hamburg. He was later awarded the Military Cross in 1946 for his actions as technical adjutant after the battalion crossed the Rhine. Tanks were frequently stranded in the marshy ground and he was responsible for recovering these, and battle-damaged tanks, often under fire.
Brian Johnston joined the BBC in January 1946 and began his cricket commentating career at Lord's for BBC Television in June 1946 at the England v India Test match.
In these early years, Johnston was an occasional presenter of other BBC shows, including Come Dancing and All Your Own. Between 1948 and 1952, Johnston presented a live broadcast segment Let's Go Somewhere as part of the Saturday night radio series In Town Tonight. In some he stayed alone in the Chamber of Horrors, rode a circus horse, lay under a passing train, was hauled out of the sea by a helicopter and was attacked by a police dog.
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Brian Johnston
Brian Alexander Johnston CBE MC (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until his death in January 1994.
Brian Alexander Johnston was born on Monday, 24 June 1912 at the Old Rectory, Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, the youngest of four children (elder siblings were Anne, Michael and Christopher). His paternal grandfather, Reginald Eden Johnston, had been Governor of the Bank of England between 1909 and 1911. The World War II airborne division commander Frederick 'Boy' Browning was his first cousin. On 27 August 1922, his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Evelyn Johnston, DSO, MC, who managed the family coffee business, drowned at Widemouth Sands near Bude, Cornwall at the age of 44. In 1924, his mother married one of her husband's military colleagues, Captain Marcus Scully, who became his stepfather. After the marriage ended in divorce, she reverted to her original married name.
Johnston was educated at Temple Grove Preparatory School (1920–25) and then at Eton (1925–31), where he played cricket for the school's 2nd XI. He subsequently went on to New College, Oxford (1931–34), where he graduated with a third in History in 1934. At Oxford he was a keen cricketer, keeping wicket for his college team, Oxford Authentics, and also for the Eton Ramblers and I Zingari, but he never managed to progress to the Varsity side.
After Oxford, Johnston joined the family's coffee business, where he worked until 1939, but admitted years later that he had little interest or liking for the work. After a year at head office in the City of London, he was transferred to the Hamburg office in 1935, as Germany was an important market for Brazilian coffee.
The following year, he travelled to Santos, Brazil, where he worked in the company office for 18 months. However, in 1938, he was struck down with an acute neurological condition and had to return to London. After several months' convalescence he returned to the City office in October but resigned the following year to join the army on the outbreak of the Second World War.
In September 1939, Johnston joined the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, and was sent for officer training to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Following this, he was posted to the Grenadiers Training Battalion, based at Windsor, in the spring of 1940, where he served as a Technical Adjutant. His unit was due to join the British Expeditionary Force in France during May, but these plans were overtaken by the retreat from Dunkirk. He remained stationed in the United Kingdom until the invasion of Europe in the summer of 1944, when his battalion landed at Arromanches on the Normandy coast some three weeks after D Day. In the winter of 1944 and early spring of 1945, Johnston and his armoured division were in the thick of the allied advance, crossing the Rhine and fighting their way up to Bremen and Hamburg. He was later awarded the Military Cross in 1946 for his actions as technical adjutant after the battalion crossed the Rhine. Tanks were frequently stranded in the marshy ground and he was responsible for recovering these, and battle-damaged tanks, often under fire.
Brian Johnston joined the BBC in January 1946 and began his cricket commentating career at Lord's for BBC Television in June 1946 at the England v India Test match.
In these early years, Johnston was an occasional presenter of other BBC shows, including Come Dancing and All Your Own. Between 1948 and 1952, Johnston presented a live broadcast segment Let's Go Somewhere as part of the Saturday night radio series In Town Tonight. In some he stayed alone in the Chamber of Horrors, rode a circus horse, lay under a passing train, was hauled out of the sea by a helicopter and was attacked by a police dog.
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