| Hilary Hook | |
|---|---|
Appearing on television programme After Dark in June 1987 |
|
| Born | 1917 |
| Died | 1990 |
| Allegiance | British Empire |
| Years of service | 1938–1964 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
Lieutenant-Colonel Hilary Hook (1917–1990) was a soldier in armies of the British Empire in India and later in Africa.
Hook was educated at Canford School, Dorset and after the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Royal Tank Corps in 1938. He joined a cavalry regiment in India and later transferred to the Indian Army. During World War II he served in New Guinea and Burma. He transferred to the 7th Hussars (later the Queen's Own Hussars) as a Captain after Indian independence in 1947. Later postings included Aden, Germany, Hong Kong and the Sudan. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1964.
He became famous with the British public in the 1980s following a BBC documentary entitled Home from the Hill that was directed by Molly Dineen. This portrayed him as having led a full life of adventure in the colonies, before coming home to a UK 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 whilst an apparently subservient African man mowed the lawn and in the UK attempting to operate a kitchen appliance and voicing his displeasure at a pop music act on television.
The documentary was based on his book Home from the Hill in which he describes participation in activities such as 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 requiem: Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill.
On his return to England, Hook settled at Westbury, Wiltshire. On 12 June 1987, the night after the UK General Election, he appeared on a memorable edition of After Dark on Channel 4.[1]