Latest news with #SandyGall
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Letter: Sandy Gall obituary
As a reporter working for Reuters, Sandy Gall was sent with his young family to South Africa. He recounted that in 1960 Nigel Ryan, an eventual editor and chief executive of ITN, but in those early days also working for Reuters, rang him from the Congo. He asked Sandy to join him there, without giving any further explanation. As Sandy stepped off the plane, he realised that he was in the middle of a full-scale revolution. When he met up with Ryan, he said: 'It's ridiculous, you reporting this all on your own.' 'Actually, I wasn't,' said Ryan. 'There was this other chap but when he sat down at his typewriter a couple of days ago, he froze with his hands above the keys. Nervous breakdown. Had to be carried off to hospital, but now you're here.'
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Yahoo
Sandy Gall: Journalist who took on war zones around the world
The craggy looks of Sandy Gall, who has died aged 97, were familiar to television viewers as both a foreign correspondent in the world's war zones and a newscaster – one of the 'faces' of ITV's News at Ten – who brought calm authority to the stories he presented. His twice-broken nose was the result of a minicab crash, but it gave the 6ft 1in, lean journalist an appearance of having taken part in some of the battles he reported. Gall joined ITN, the commercial channel's news provider, in 1963 after 10 years at the news agency Reuters, where he had covered events during a turbulent period in history, from the Mau Mau rebellion and the Suez crisis to post-revolution Hungary and the Congo wars. For television, he reported from Vietnam in 1965, when the United States sent in the Marines. He returned to the country several times – covering the Tet Offensive in 1968 – and courageously decided to stay on in Saigon in 1975 to witness the North Vietnamese Army's liberation and the aftermath. Three years earlier, Gall had been imprisoned in Uganda after being sent to cover the dictator Idi Amin's expulsion from the country of all Asians holding British passports. He was thrown into hut C19, the execution cell at the military police barracks in Makindye. There were bullet holes in the walls, with blood splattered on the ceiling, and Gall thought he heard the sound of a man being beaten to death with a shovel. 'I felt sick with fear and suddenly cold,' he recalled. 'I began to pray.' Fortunately, after a short time, he was moved to the 'VIP cell' and, three days later, deported. Gall had a longer association with Afghanistan, which began with his reporting from the rebel mujahideen side three years after the Soviet invasion for his ITV documentary Afghanistan: Behind Russian Lines (1982). He subsequently made Allah Against the Gunships (1984), when his team received protection from Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq's Special Forces, and Agony of a Nation (1986). In Don't Worry About the Money Now, Gall's first book of memoirs, published in 1983, he wrote: 'A journalist, as an observer, has to be an outsider looking in and, once he loses that sort of independence, once he becomes, even slightly, part of the Establishment, he is in danger of losing his credibility.' That principle appeared to be compromised when, a year later, he was invited to lunch with the head of MI6 and shared his first-hand knowledge of Afghanistan. Gall aired his view that the mujahideen had no weapon with which to counter the Soviets' Mi-24 helicopter gunships. Shortly afterward, the Americans asked the British to supply the rebels with a ground-to-air missile, which marked a turning point in the war. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its final forces from Afghanistan, an event covered by Gall for ITN. Another legacy of his reporting from the country was Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, the charity he set up in 1983 to provide artificial limbs, other aids and physiotherapy to those suffering disabilities as a result of the war. He continued to visit Afghanistan throughout its subsequent turbulent history and made the documentaries Veil of Fear (1996, for World in Action), Sandy's War: Face of the Taliban (2001, for Tonight) and Afghanistan: War without End (2004). He also authored several books: Behind Russian Lines: An Afghan Journal (1983), Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation (1988), War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan (2013) and Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud (2021). Henderson Alexander Gall was born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1927 to Jean (née Begg) and Henderson Gall, a Scottish rubber planter. He was educated at Glenalmond College in Perthshire and served in the RAF from 1945 to 1948). He graduated from Aberdeen University in 1952 with an MA in French and German, and began his career at the Aberdeen Press and Journal. The following year, he joined Reuters and, after several months in its London office, served as a correspondent in Cold War Berlin, Nairobi, Suez, Bonn, Budapest and Johannesburg. While based in South Africa, he covered the Congo. In 1960, he was the first to report the rape of Belgian women, including nuns, by Congolese who saw no immediate change in the weeks after receiving independence from Belgium. Gall admitted to being nervous in front of the camera on joining ITN in 1963, but he was soon bringing his experience – and impressive contacts book – to reporting from trouble spots, including the Congo again, Borneo, the Six-Day War and Biafra. He became a newscaster in 1968 and first presented News at Ten two years later, although he continued to report from around the world. He also made documentaries for ITV, including Lord of the Lions (1989), about conservationist George Adamson. Gall retired from ITN as a newscaster in January 1990 but continued as a reporter to cover the first Gulf War (1990-91) and the fall of the Soviet-backed Najibullah regime in Afghanistan (1992), then made occasional television documentaries. In 2003, he became world affairs editor of the London news station LBC, joining its breakfast show to comment on global issues. His second volume of memoirs, News from the Front: A Television Reporter's Life, was published in 1994. As a novelist, he wrote the thrillers Gold Scoop (1977), Chasing the Dragon (1981) and Salang (1990). Gall was appointed CBE in 1988 and, for services to the people of Afghanistan, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2011. He won the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987 for his Afghanistan reports and was rector of the University of Aberdeen from 1978 to 1981. In 1958, Gall married Eleanor Smyth; she died in 2018. He is survived by his son, Alexander, and three daughters, Fiona, Carlotta and Michaela. Sandy Gall, journalist, born 1 October 1927, died 29 June 2025
The Independent
06-07-2025
- The Independent
Sandy Gall: Journalist who took on war zones around the world
The craggy looks of Sandy Gall, who has died aged 97, were familiar to television viewers as both a foreign correspondent in the world's war zones and a newscaster – one of the 'faces' of ITV's News at Ten – who brought calm authority to the stories he presented. His twice-broken nose was the result of a minicab crash, but it gave the 6ft 1in, lean journalist an appearance of having taken part in some of the battles he reported. Gall joined ITN, the commercial channel's news provider, in 1963 after 10 years at the news agency Reuters, where he had covered events during a turbulent period in history, from the Mau Mau rebellion and the Suez crisis to post-revolution Hungary and the Congo wars. For television, he reported from Vietnam in 1965, when the United States sent in the Marines. He returned to the country several times – covering the Tet Offensive in 1968 – and courageously decided to stay on in Saigon in 1975 to witness the North Vietnamese Army's liberation and the aftermath. Three years earlier, Gall had been imprisoned in Uganda after being sent to cover the dictator Idi Amin's expulsion from the country of all Asians holding British passports. He was thrown into hut C19, the execution cell at the military police barracks in Makindye. There were bullet holes in the walls, with blood splattered on the ceiling, and Gall thought he heard the sound of a man being beaten to death with a shovel. 'I felt sick with fear and suddenly cold,' he recalled. 'I began to pray.' Fortunately, after a short time, he was moved to the 'VIP cell' and, three days later, deported. Gall had a longer association with Afghanistan, which began with his reporting from the rebel mujahideen side three years after the Soviet invasion for his ITV documentary Afghanistan: Behind Russian Lines (1982). He subsequently made Allah Against the Gunships (1984), when his team received protection from Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq's Special Forces, and Agony of a Nation (1986). In Don't Worry About the Money Now, Gall's first book of memoirs, published in 1983, he wrote: 'A journalist, as an observer, has to be an outsider looking in and, once he loses that sort of independence, once he becomes, even slightly, part of the Establishment, he is in danger of losing his credibility.' That principle appeared to be compromised when, a year later, he was invited to lunch with the head of MI6 and shared his first-hand knowledge of Afghanistan. Gall aired his view that the mujahideen had no weapon with which to counter the Soviets' Mi-24 helicopter gunships. Shortly afterward, the Americans asked the British to supply the rebels with a ground-to-air missile, which marked a turning point in the war. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its final forces from Afghanistan, an event covered by Gall for ITN. Another legacy of his reporting from the country was Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, the charity he set up in 1983 to provide artificial limbs, other aids and physiotherapy to those suffering disabilities as a result of the war. He continued to visit Afghanistan throughout its subsequent turbulent history and made the documentaries Veil of Fear (1996, for World in Action), Sandy's War: Face of the Taliban (2001, for Tonight) and Afghanistan: War without End (2004). He also authored several books: Behind Russian Lines: An Afghan Journal (1983), Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation (1988), War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan (2013) and Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud (2021). Henderson Alexander Gall was born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1927 to Jean (née Begg) and Henderson Gall, a Scottish rubber planter. He was educated at Glenalmond College in Perthshire and served in the RAF from 1945 to 1948). He graduated from Aberdeen University in 1952 with an MA in French and German, and began his career at the Aberdeen Press and Journal. The following year, he joined Reuters and, after several months in its London office, served as a correspondent in Cold War Berlin, Nairobi, Suez, Bonn, Budapest and Johannesburg. While based in South Africa, he covered the Congo. In 1960, he was the first to report the rape of Belgian women, including nuns, by Congolese who saw no immediate change in the weeks after receiving independence from Belgium. Gall admitted to being nervous in front of the camera on joining ITN in 1963, but he was soon bringing his experience – and impressive contacts book – to reporting from trouble spots, including the Congo again, Borneo, the Six-Day War and Biafra. He became a newscaster in 1968 and first presented News at Ten two years later, although he continued to report from around the world. He also made documentaries for ITV, including Lord of the Lions (1989), about conservationist George Adamson. Gall retired from ITN as a newscaster in January 1990 but continued as a reporter to cover the first Gulf War (1990-91) and the fall of the Soviet-backed Najibullah regime in Afghanistan (1992), then made occasional television documentaries. In 2003, he became world affairs editor of the London news station LBC, joining its breakfast show to comment on global issues. His second volume of memoirs, News from the Front: A Television Reporter's Life, was published in 1994. As a novelist, he wrote the thrillers Gold Scoop (1977), Chasing the Dragon (1981) and Salang (1990). Gall was appointed CBE in 1988 and, for services to the people of Afghanistan, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2011. He won the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987 for his Afghanistan reports and was rector of the University of Aberdeen from 1978 to 1981. In 1958, Gall married Eleanor Smyth; she died in 2018. He is survived by his son, Alexander, and three daughters, Fiona, Carlotta and Michaela. Sandy Gall, journalist, born 1 October 1927, died 29 June 2025
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Newsreader Sandy Gall personally lobbied Margaret Thatcher's government to back the Mujahideen
For more than 20 years, he was the face of impartiality as a top newsreader on ITN's flagship News At Ten bulletin. But behind the scenes, veteran Scottish broadcaster Sandy Gall was personally lobbying Margaret Thatcher 's government to step up support for Afghanistan 's Mujahideen rebels in their war against the Soviet-installed regime, according to declassified papers. Gall, whose death at the age of 97 was announced last week, became a passionate supporter of the Mujahideen cause and a confidante of their leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud, during trips to the country as a war correspondent. He first visited Afghanistan in 1982 when he was smuggled in by resistance fighters to make a documentary highlighting claims of Russian brutality towards the civilian population. During a 60-year career reporting from the world's trouble spots, he would become an unofficial emissary of the British government to the Mujahideen and in 1986 he and his late wife Eleanor founded a charity to raise money for victims of the war. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the country descended into civil war with various rival factions fighting the Moscow-backed government of President Mohammad Najibullah. When Gall returned to Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission, he wrote to the prime minister's private secretary, Charles Powell, raising concerns about the deteriorating situation. He wrote: 'I came away with a very strong feeling that the situation is critical. The main fact I learned from a couple of talks with Massoud is that he has received no weapons via the Pakistani pipeline at all this year.' During the Soviet occupation, MI6 formed close links with Massoud, who was regarded as more pro-Western than his rival Mujahideen commanders, and provided his group with substantial military aid, including Blowpipe anti-aircraft missiles, channelled through the Pakistani ISI intelligence service. But Gall learned the ISI had cut off the supply of weapons. 'This is a deliberate policy,' Gall wrote. 'They have always resented his independence, and his refusal to take ISI instructions has now infuriated them to the extent of cutting off his arms supply.' He urged Mrs Thatcher to increase military support for Massoud and press the Pakistani government to restart the flow of weapons. Mr Powell replied that 'our own ability to influence the conduct of the war is very limited'. President Najibullah was eventually overthrown in 1992, but after four more years of civil war and in-fighting the country was taken over by Massoud's arch-rivals the Taliban. Massoud was assassinated by al-Qaeda linked suicide bombers in 2001. Born Henderson Alexander Gall in British Malaya, Gall was the son a rubber plantation manager. The family moved back to Scotland when he was four and he was educated at Glenalmond College, in Perthshire, and Aberdeen University. He joined ITN in 1963 and made a name as a fearless foreign correspondent, landing himself in countless scrapes. He fronted News At Ten for many years until his retirement in 1992. In 2011, Gall was appointed CMG in recognition of his service to the people of Afghanistan.
New York Times
03-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
Sandy Gall, War Correspondent Without Swagger, Dies at 97
Sandy Gall, a veteran correspondent for Britain's Independent Television News who covered with calm precision the globe's major conflicts in the last half of the 20th century, died on Sunday at his home in Penshurst, a village in Kent, England. He was 97. His death was confirmed by his daughter Carlotta Gall, a reporter for The New York Times. For nearly 50 years, Mr. Gall's weary eyes and elongated features were ubiquitous on British television. As a war reporter in Vietnam, Africa and the Middle East, and for more than two decades as an imperturbable presenter on Independent Television's popular 'News at Ten,' he was in all the country's living rooms. He covered the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and the arrival of U.S. Marines in Vietnam in 1965. He was one of the few journalists to see North Vietnamese tanks roll into Saigon in 1975, and he captured on film the early days of the Vietcong occupation; fleeing British diplomats left him the keys to the embassy club so he could use the pool. The queen decorated him, and Prince Charles wrote the preface to one of his books. In his later years Mr. Gall became known as a specialist on Afghanistan. He trekked hundreds of miles to report on the anti-Soviet guerrillas, known as the mujahedeen, who fought to free their country from Russian control in the 1980s. He wrote six books on Afghanistan and founded a charity for disabled Afghans, drawn by the improbable pluck of the country's people and by the rugged landscape, which reminded him of his native Scotland — 'but without the whisky,' he liked to joke, ruefully. He published his last book, 'Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud,' a biography of the assassinated mujahedeen leader, whom he admired, when he was 93. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
