Sandy Gall
Encyclopedia
Henderson Alexander Gall, CMG
, CBE
(born 1 October 1927), known as Sandy Gall, is a Scottish journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter
. His career as a journalist spans over 50 years.
at Trinity College, a boys' independent school
in Glenalmond
in Perth and Kinross
, where he boarded. The school has since been renamed Glenalmond College
. He then attended the University of Aberdeen
, from which he graduated in 1952.
as a foreign correspondent
. Among the events he reported for Reuters were the Suez Crisis
in 1956, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and the Congo Crisis
1960-1963.
He joined ITN in 1963 as a foreign correspondent. He was the first ITN journalist to report the Vietnam War
when the United States Marines
landed on 8 March 1965. He returned to Vietnam several times until 1975 when Saigon fell
and he was forcibly removed from the country by the communist authorities. During this time he also reported from Cambodia, China, Afghanistan, and Africa. He also covered the Six-Day War
in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War
in 1973. In 1972 he was famously arrested with his Reuters colleague Nicholas Moore in Uganda
and held for three days in the notorious Makindye
police camp.
He was one of the original staff on News at Ten
in 1967 and went on to become one of its senior presenters.
Gall has reported from Afghanistan on numerous occasions, written several books about Afghanistan, and made three documentaries during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
: Afghanistan: Behind Russian Lines (1982); Allah Against the Gunships (1984); and Agony of a Nation (1986). The latter two documentaries were nominated for BAFTA awards.
In 1986 Sandy Gall established the Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA). As of 2006 the charity, which is supported by the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), has provided artificial limbs and walking aids for more than 20,000 people, and physiotherapy for more than 50,000 people. Gall's wife Eleanor Gall and two of his daughters, Fiona and Michaela, are also actively involved in the charity.
Gall was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan in 1985 and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the people of Afghanistan.
Gall retired from ITN in 1992, but has continued television work and writing. He became the World Affairs Expert on LBC
radio in 2003.
He lives in Penshurst
, Kent with his wife Eleanor Gall.
, covers Afghanistan
and Pakistan
for The New York Times
.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1 October 1927), known as Sandy Gall, is a Scottish journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
. His career as a journalist spans over 50 years.
Education
Gall was educated in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
at Trinity College, a boys' independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Glenalmond
Glenalmond
Glenalmond or Glen Almond is a glen which stretches for several miles to the west of the city of Perth in Perth and Kinross, Scotland and down which the River Almond flows. The upper half of the glen runs through mountainous country and is virtually uninhabited whilst the lower, easterly section...
in Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, where he boarded. The school has since been renamed Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. The school's motto is Floreat Glenalmond...
. He then attended the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, from which he graduated in 1952.
Life and career
In 1953 he joined ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
as a foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
. Among the events he reported for Reuters were the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in 1956, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and the Congo Crisis
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu...
1960-1963.
He joined ITN in 1963 as a foreign correspondent. He was the first ITN journalist to report the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
when the United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
landed on 8 March 1965. He returned to Vietnam several times until 1975 when Saigon fell
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
and he was forcibly removed from the country by the communist authorities. During this time he also reported from Cambodia, China, Afghanistan, and Africa. He also covered the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
in 1973. In 1972 he was famously arrested with his Reuters colleague Nicholas Moore in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and held for three days in the notorious Makindye
Makindye
Makindye is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's largest city and capital. Makindye is also the seat of Makindye Division, one of the five administrative zones of the city of Kampala.The other four divisions are:* Kampala Central Division* Nakawa Division...
police camp.
He was one of the original staff on News at Ten
News at Ten
The ITV News at Ten is the flagship news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in 1967. It was originally planned as a thirteen week project in July 1967 because senior figures at ITV refused to believe that a permanent 30-minute late...
in 1967 and went on to become one of its senior presenters.
Gall has reported from Afghanistan on numerous occasions, written several books about Afghanistan, and made three documentaries during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
: Afghanistan: Behind Russian Lines (1982); Allah Against the Gunships (1984); and Agony of a Nation (1986). The latter two documentaries were nominated for BAFTA awards.
In 1986 Sandy Gall established the Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA). As of 2006 the charity, which is supported by the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
(USAID), has provided artificial limbs and walking aids for more than 20,000 people, and physiotherapy for more than 50,000 people. Gall's wife Eleanor Gall and two of his daughters, Fiona and Michaela, are also actively involved in the charity.
Gall was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan in 1985 and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1987. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the people of Afghanistan.
Gall retired from ITN in 1992, but has continued television work and writing. He became the World Affairs Expert on LBC
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
radio in 2003.
He lives in Penshurst
Penshurst
Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...
, Kent with his wife Eleanor Gall.
Family
A daughter, Carlotta GallCarlotta Gall
Carlotta Gall is a British journalist who covers Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan for The New York Times.Carlotta Gall is a daughter of the British journalist Sandy Gall and Eleanor Gall. She was educated in England and read Russian and French at Newnham College, Cambridge...
, covers Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
Film documentary
- George AdamsonGeorge AdamsonGeorge Adamson , also known as the "Baba ya Simba" , was a British wildlife conservationist and author...
: Lord of the Lions - Produced by Nick Gray and Sandy Gall. In 1989 Sandy Gall visited conservationist George Adamson, of Born FreeBorn FreeBorn Free is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilds of Kenya. The movie was produced by Open Road Films Ltd. and Columbia...
fame, in Kenya East Africa to discuss his past, his motivation and his life among his lion friends.
External links
- Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal
- Sandy Gaul reporting from Vietnam 1968 Clip on YouTube of Sandy Gall on an LST going up the Pearl River to Hue, in 1968