War Correspondent
In 1935 Steer covered the Italian invasion of Ethiopia for The Times and reported that Italian forces used mustard gas and bombed Red Cross ambulances. He became friendly with Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia; the Emperor later stood as godfather to Steer's son.
In 1937 he was sent to report on the Spanish Civil War. He won prominence with his report on the bombing of Guernica on 26 April 1937. His telegram to London described German bomb casings and the use of thermite as an incendiary to create a firestorm in the center of the town. His reporting did much to inspire Pablo Picasso to record the atrocity for posterity in his massive painting.
The anti-Fascist tone of Steer's reporting led The Times to dispense with his services; the newspaper's editorial stance on the war was neutral, whilst its editor, Geoffrey Dawson, privately sympathised with the Nationalists under Francisco Franco. Steer returned to South Africa and, in his book Judgment on German Africa, documented Germany's attempts to subvert its former African colonies.
After the outbreak of World War II, the Daily Telegraph dispatched Steer to Finland to cover the Winter War. He saw the effects of aerial bombing of several Finnish towns by the Soviets, attempts made to intimidate the population, just like at Guernica.
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Famous quotes containing the word war:
“This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)