Frederick Forsyth: Best-selling author, RAF pilot and investigative journalist dead at 86

He went on to write more than 25 books, many of which were made into films, that have sold over 75m copies.

Born in Ashford, Kent, Freddie Forsyth began his RAF career in 1956 after university, becoming at the time the youngest man in England to earn his wings.

After two years with the Air Force he left to pursue his journalistic ambitions, working for Reuters, the BBC and as a freelancer.

Part of his early career was spent covering French affairs including the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle which would later provide the inspiration for The Day of the Jackal.

His other notable journalistic work included his coverage of the civil war between Biafra and Nigeria.

As an international journalist in East Germany in the 1960s, Forsyth found himself under constant police and Stasi surveillance.

Ultimately he left for London to diffuse a potentially explosive situation involving the East German defence minister.

He revealed in his 2015 memoir that he had extensive involvement with MI6 starting during the 1960s.

His proficiency in journalism and political analysis, combined with his fluency in English, German and French, led to his being approached by the counterintelligence agency and eventually to an extraordinary set of experiences, facilitating communications both in Cold War era Europe and in West Africa.

His African adventures ended with another quick escape, this time from Nigeria where he said a ‘dead or alive’ bounty had been put on his head.

During 1971, with the help of the Holocaust researcher Simon Wisenthal, Forsyth uncovered the story of Eduard Roschmann, commander of the Riga ghetto known as The Butcher of Riga.

The episode formed the basis for The Odessa File, in which a journalist goes on an investigative trail for Roschmann.

The novel was made into a film starring Jon Voight, which resulted in the real Roschmann being finally identified and apprehended in Argentina.

Forsyth’s detailed research underscored his novels and he returned many times to the same themes: international politics and conspiracy, terrorism, state espionage and the actions of malevolent covert organisations.

His 1999 novel The Phantom of Manhattan was adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber into the romantic musical Love Never Dies, which has toured worldwide.

The story is an extension to that told in the earlier musical, The Phantom of the Opera.

In addition to his work as an author, Forsyth continued to work as a journalist, maintaining a regular newspaper column until October 2023.

He won Edgar Awards in 1972 and 1983 and a Cartier Diamond Dagger award in 2012. He was made a CBE in 1997 for services to literature.

He married his late wife Sandy Molloy in 1994 and lived with her in Buckinghamshire until her death last year.