Funeral: Brian Freemantle

A funeral service for the life of Brian Freemantle, journalist and author, will take place at St Bride’s Church, the Journalists’ Church, on Wednesday 29th January at 11:30am.

Born in Southampton, Freemantle pursued a career in journalism as a foreign correspondent. He rose to the position of foreign editor at the Daily Mail. He played a key role under editor Sir David English as the newspaper changed from broadsheet to compact format in 1971.

Freemantle masterminded the Mail’s rescue of Vietnamese children from Saigon in 1975. Days before the city’s fall, a chartered plane successfully brought 99 orphans to the UK to start a new life.

After Operation Mercy Airlift, Freemantle left journalism to become a successful full-time author. He wrote some 85 books both fiction (including the popular Charlie Muffin spy stories) and non-fiction (including histories of the CIA and KGB).

Obituaries

• The Daily Mail
• The Telegraph