The Machine Gunners

Robert Atkinson Westall (1929–1993) was an English author and art teacher renowned for his children's and young adult fiction, often exploring dark themes, war, and the supernatural. Born in North Shields, Northumberland, he began writing later in life, inspired by sharing WWII childhood stories with his son, debuting with the Carnegie Medal-winning The Machine Gunners (1975), followed by a second Carnegie for The Scarecrows (1981), among other honors like the Smarties Prize for Blitzcat (1989) and Guardian Prize for The Kingdom by the Sea (1990), NYT Obituary, Valancourt Books.