John Alan Edward MulganMC (31 December 1911 – 26 April 1945) was a New Zealand writer, journalist and editor,[1] and the elder son of journalist and writerAlan Mulgan. His influence on New Zealand literature and identity grew in the years after his death. He is best known for his novelMan Alone (1939).
Gifted both academically and athletically, his New Zealand secondary education was atWellington College (1925–1927) andAuckland Grammar School (1927–1929). Mulgan studied atAuckland University College (1930–1932), before attendingMerton College, Oxford from November 1933.[2] He was awarded a first in English in 1935,[2] and in July 1935 took up a position at theClarendon Press.
Mulgan held leftist political views and was alarmed by the rise offascism in Europe and the response of the British government to it. In 1936, he was an observer for the New Zealand government at theLeague of Nations in Geneva. During this time, he wrote a series of articles on foreign affairs, titled "Behind the Cables", for theAuckland Star newspaper.
His view that war in Europe was inevitable led Mulgan to join theTerritorial Army in 1938, and he was made second lieutenant in an infantry regiment.Posted to the Middle East in 1942, Mulgan was promoted to major and made second-in-command of his regiment. He saw action atEl Alamein and fought alongside theNew Zealand Expeditionary Force. He was impressed by the calibre of his compatriots and found meeting New Zealanders after being in England for so long to be a kind of "homecoming". He left theRoyal West Kents Regiment after reporting his last Colonel asquite incompetent.[3]
In 1943, Mulgan joined theSpecial Operations Executive and was sent to Greece in September to coordinate guerrilla action against the German forces. He was awarded theMilitary Cross for his actions. After the German withdrawal in 1944, Mulgan oversaw British compensation to Greek families who had helped the Allied forces (theLiquidation Fund.).
In the evening ofAnzac Day 1945, Mulgan intentionally took an overdose of morphine. Speculation continues as to why he committed suicide. He is buried at Heliopolis military cemetery in Cairo. Mulgan was survived by his wife Gabrielle (married 1937) and sonRichard (born 1940).
