Richard Hannay of the Second World War, Buchan's last novel, "Sick Heart River" (published just after the author died in 1940) offers a hint about Hannay's future: dying in Canada, Hannay's friend Sir Edward Leithen hears of the outbreak of war in Europe and guesses that many of his old friends, including Hannay, will have taken up arms again. Richard Hannay Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film "The 39 Steps" (and other later film adaptations), very loosely based
Richard Hannay this theatrical adaptation, the character's full name is given as Richard Charles Arbuthnot Hannay. As revealed through the various novels, Richard Hannay was born in Scotland about 1877; his father was Scottish and had German business partners. He was brought up to speak German pretty fluently. At the age of six he joins his father in South Africa. He becomes a mining engineer, spending three years prospecting for copper in German Damaraland and makes a small fortune in Bulawayo. He takes part in the Matabele Wars, serves two years with the Imperial Light Horse and serves as an intelligence officer