In Their Own Words

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS Letters from history

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www.bloomsbury.com CONWAY and the ‘C’ logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc The National Archives logo © Crown Copyright 2016 The National Archives logo device is a trade mark of The National Archives and is used under licence. First published 2016 Text © The National Archives, 2016 Illustrations see page 304 for detail of copyright holders. This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc The National Archives have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for. ISBN: HB: 978-1-8448-6285-6 ePDF: 978-1-8448-6287-0 ePub: 978-1-8448-6286-3

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Contents

Introduction 8

Companions, comrades, lovers

Espionage and deception

Medieval family politics

Digging for King and Country

Letter from Isabelle of Angoulême to Henry VIII 16

Leonard Woolley and T E Lawrence 64

A doomed queen

Carl Lody, the spy in the Tower

Catherine Howard’s letter to her

Letter from a convicted German on

lover Culpepper 20 Lean meals for the Earl of Leicester Elizabeth I drafts a playful thank-you letter 24 ‘Slaving during master’s pleasure’ Bonded labour in eighteenth century Maryland 30 Britain versus the South Pole Telegram sent to Captain Oates’ mother announcing his death 34 Letter from India K B W Sharland, 26 July 1917, Pashan Camp, Kirkee, India 38 Medals into munitions The fight at home: Funding the First World War 42 An appeal from Pioneer Baggs A tragic attempt to keep a son from war 46 The Caravan Club Raids on homosexual clubs in the 1930s 50

the eve of his execution 68 From bank clerk to British spy The origins of Britain’s leading Second World War spy 72 Operation Mincemeat How a dead body deceived the Axis in the Second World War 76 Animals and the War effort GI Joe the hero carrier pigeon 80 The Gerson Secret Writing Case J O Peet and coded correspondence in the Second World War 84 The first female British spy Christine Granville: a female Second World War agent 88 Double agents and the Cold War The disappearance of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean 94

Children of the Overseas Reception Board The sinking of the SS City of Benares 54 ‘Tell her my grief has no end’ Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson: a life, from Guiana to Soho 58

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Allies, diplomacy and foreign relations

Protest, revolution and rebellion

Reburying the hatchet

Braveheart

The return of Napoleon Bonaparte’s

A letter from the King of France regarding William Wallace 142

remains to France 102

‘Terrible blow this Parliament’

Nationality and naturalisation

A warning about the Gunpowder Plot 146

Karl Marx’s application to become

‘Ye have not yet done as ye ought’

British citizen refused 108

A letter from ‘Captain Swing’ – the agricultural unrest of 1830 150

‘Wonderful things’

‘… we may lie and die in a land of plenty …’

Discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb 110

Thomas Henshaw’s demand for redress in the ‘Hungry 40s’ 156

The end of ‘peace in our time’

Class antagonism onboard the Titanic

Lord Halifax and the declaration of war 114 Operation Pied Piper: what to feed the children? Government guidelines for caring for evacuated children 118 The most unsordid act in history The origins of Lend-Lease 122 Nuclear weapons and the new world order Letter from Attlee to Truman 130

Did your class affect your chances of survival? 160 ‘Wrong and wicked punishment’ Sir Douglas Haig defends Field Punishment No. 1 164 A letter of farewell to his mother Patrick Pearse: executed for being a leader of the Easter Rising 168 Animals in a cage Women’s petitions for equal participation in Parliament 172

An invitation to the Queen

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Idi Amin invites Elizabeth II to celebrate

Dedication to the Jewish people of Poland 178

Ugandan independence 136

The League of Coloured Peoples The mixed-race babies of the Second World War 182 ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ Notes on the trial of Nelson Mandela 186 Sexual Offences Act 1967 The decriminalisation of homosexual acts 192 Shooting at the Berlin Wall The Cold War and the fight to stop the flow of people to the West 198 For ‘all women everywhere’ Ford Dagenham women strike for equal pay 202

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Scandals, loopholes and murder

Cultural, technological change

Can a child be deemed an animal?

The cantankerous father of computing

The case of James Stannard – child welfare

Charles Babbage and street music noise 256

in the 19th century 210 Copycat Rippers Letters to the police from ‘Jack the Ripper’ 216

Electric trains Seashore sabotage 264 ‘A flyer capable of carrying a man’

A pattern emerges and a serial killer is uncovered

The Wright brothers’ negotiations with

The case of the ‘Brides in the Bath’ murders 224

the British government 270

A storm in a whiskey tumbler

No women drivers allowed

Diplomatic drinking in prohibition America 230

Men from the London Trades Council

‘Impassioned Obscenity’ The Cerne Abbas Giant 234 Commander of the death camps Josef Kramer, commandant of Bergen-Belsen, writes to his wife 238 Christine Keeler and Stephen Ward The scandal that rocked the early 1960s 242 ‘The Kray twins done it’ Murder at the Blind Beggar 246 ‘One for the pot’ The World Cup is stolen 250

threaten to strike 276 Disappointed fiancées The right of married women to work in the civil service 282 The introduction of the contraceptive pill Allowing ‘improper demands’ by women? 286 ‘A good thing to be laughed at’ Harold Macmillan approves of his TV satirisation 290 Aliens in the Mendip Hills Correspondence to and from the Ministry of Defence 292

Index 300 Acknowledgements 304 List of references 304

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A doomed queen

Catherine Howard’s letter to her lover Culpepper 15 41

On 28 July 1540, an ageing King Henry VIII married his fifth bride, the 19-year-old Catherine Howard. He declared her his ‘rose without thorn’ and was apparently infatuated with her. Yet less than two years later, the marriage was over and the young Queen had met her fate on the scaffold. Catherine was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, the second Duke of Norfolk’s youngest son. Although members of a noble family, Catherine’s parents were far from wealthy, and Catherine was sent to live in the household of her grandmother, the dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Her father could not afford her upbringing, but in her grandmother’s household Catherine lived comfortably (although by all accounts not under close supervision). As Catherine grew into a young woman, there were tales of numerous indiscretions with admirers. Certainly there had been some sort of flirtation with her music teacher Henry Mannox, followed by a more serious relationship with Frances Dereham. But by 1539 Catherine’s affection for Dereham had waned, and she had met and fallen in love with Thomas Culpepper, a gentleman of the King’s Privy Chamber. Catherine arrived at court as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves in early 1540, and quickly caught the eye and heart of the King. By July of the same year, Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves had been annulled and he had wed Catherine, making her his fifth wife. Henry was thrilled with his new bride, and although Catherine too seemed content, all was not quite as it appeared. Just months after her wedding, Catherine penned her infamous letter to Culpepper. In it, she writes of her great concern for Thomas following a bout of illness, and of her desire to see him and to speak with him. She laments that it ‘makes my heart die to think what fortune I have that I cannot be always in your company’, and signs the letter ‘Yours as long as life endures, Kathryn’.

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This letter is all the more poignant as it was subsequently used as evidence of Catherine’s treason against the King. Rumours about Catherine’s behaviour as a young woman in her grandmother’s household had led to investigations about her life before marriage, and eventually turned to her life as the wife of the King. Catherine’s supposed ‘relationship’ with Culpepper was subsequently revealed, and her affectionate letter full of her love for Thomas helped to seal both of their fates. Henry was the most powerful man in England. He had previously executed his second wife, Anne Boleyn, for adultery, and divorced two further wives. Catherine’s letter to Culpepper had put her in a precarious position and led to not only the end of her marriage to the King of England, but also the end of her short life: Culpepper was executed in December 1541 and Catherine in February 1542.

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Master Coulpeper, I hertely recomend me unto youe praying you to sende me worde how that you doo. Yt was showed me that you was sike, the wyche thynge trobled me very muche tell suche tyme that I here from you praying you to send me worde how that you do. For I never longed so muche for [a] thynge as I do to se you and to speke wyth you, the wyche I trust shal be shortely now, the wyche dothe comforthe me verie much whan I thynk of ett and wan I thynke agan that you shall departe from me agayne ytt makes my harte to dye to thynke what fortune I have that I cannot be always yn your company. Y[e]t my trust ys allway in you that you wolbe as you have promysed me and in that hope I truste upon styll, prayng you than that you wyll com whan my lade Rochforthe ys here, for then I shalbe beste at leaysoure to be at your commarendmant. Thaynkyng you for that you have promysed me to be so good unto that pore felowe my man, whyche is on of the grefes that I do felle to departe from hym for than I do know noone that I dare truste to sende to you and therfor I pray you take hym to be wyth you that I may sumtym here from you one thynge. I pray you to gyve me a horse for my man for I hyd muche a do to gat one and thefer I pray sende me one by hym and yn so doying I am as I sade afor, and thus I take my leve of you trusting to se you s[h]orttele agane and I wode you was wythe me now that yoo maitte se what pane I take yn wryte[n]g to you. Yours as long as lyffe endures Katheryn One thyng I had forgotten and that hys to instruct my man to tare here wyt[h] me still, for he sas wat so mever you bed hym he wel do et and [...]

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Class antagonism onboard the Titanic Did your class affect your chances of survival? 19 12

When the Titanic sank in the early hours of Monday 15 April 1912, many questions were raised. It was one of the largest, most luxurious ships in the world, boasting better facilities than any other liner, and yet it sank on its maiden voyage when it collided with an iceberg. How did it happen? Why did it happen? Why had so few passengers been saved? And why did first-class passengers have a better chance of survival than those travelling in second and third class? More than 1,500 passengers and crew had died in the freezing ocean, and relatives, friends and onlookers alike were looking for answers in the wake of the tragedy. Among those concerned was Benn Tillett, the author of this letter. A famous trade union leader, he was hugely critical of the allegedly ‘vicious class antagonism’ that had led to the disproportionate loss of life among third-class passengers. Had the officers loading the life rafts deemed richer passengers more important than poorer ones? Benn Tillett clearly believed this to be the case. And the survival figures do show that the more a passenger had paid for his ticket, the greater his chance of survival. Indeed, fewer than 25 per cent of all third class passengers survived. Whether these figures can be attributed solely to ‘class antagonism’ and a ‘callous disregard of human life’ is debatable, however. Practical factors were at play too. In designing the ship, the architects had ensured that passengers of different classes would not mix, and to this end certain stairways were barred off with metal gateways. In theory, these gateways could be unlocked by a key-holding crew member. In practice, on the night disaster struck, there were no staff available to open the gateways, and as a result, hundreds of passengers were trapped below deck and drowned as water gushed in. Since the third class accommodation was furthest from the boat deck, in many ways this group had the least chance of survival even before class differences were considered. Tillett’s letter outlines some of the key reasons why more lives weren’t saved, and petitions the Marine Department to introduce more rigorous safety regulations in future. He complained that higher-class passengers were given priority in the lifeboats, which is definitely true, but more indicative that the loading of the lifeboats in general was

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completely mismanaged. The first raft launched, for example, took just 28 people, even though it had the capacity for 65. The crux of the issue, however, as Tillett explains, was simply the lack of sufficient lifeboats. Though it had been recommended to the designers that the Titanic should have 64 such vessels, the number was reduced to just 20 in order to keep the decks clear and to give the ship a more streamlined appearance. As a result, the Titanic ended up with lifeboats that could take only a third of the ship’s capacity. Not only this, but ships passing through iceberg-infested waters normally slowed down or stopped entirely when travelling at night. The Titanic’s crew had received warnings about icebergs from other nearby ships but, in spite of this, carried on at full tilt – partly to show what a marvellously fast vessel she was. Consequently, the impact on collision with the iceberg was much more severe than it might have been. Mere weeks after the supposedly ‘unsinkable’ Titanic had been launched, people like Tillett understandably emphasised the need for safety over speed, and the importance of sufficient lifeboats over aesthetic considerations. By the end of April 1912, the draw of being the first ship to have a heated swimming pool and the luxury of 11-course dinners in first class seemed somewhat less appealing if the ship’s crew could not safeguard the lives of its passengers.

Titanic on her maiden voyage.

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For ‘all women everywhere’

Ford Dagenham women strike for equal pay 19 6 8

In 1968 how did a group of women cause fear in the British government, prompting statements such as ‘disastrous’ and ‘a critical problem for British economy’? The strike by women at Ford Motor Company’s Dagenham plant in 1968 has been the subject of popular culture depictions, but records from The National Archives show these women workers really did panic the Wilson government. The action started on 7 June 1968, when 187 women walked out of Ford’s Dagenham plant, led by several key women: Rose Boland, Eileen Pullen, Vera Sime, Gwen Davis and Sheila Douglass. Prime Minister’s Office files on this subject show the government tensions through fraught telegrams, alongside a handwritten letter signed the ‘Women Workers at Fords of Dagenham’. The letter from these women workers boldly declares, ‘We are fighting a great fight equal pay for women’. In a regrading exercise, the women’s work had been graded as less skilled, and therefore they were paid less. Contrary to popular belief, the women were not directly asking for equal pay, but for their technical skills used to make seat covers to be ranked at the same grade as that of their fellow male workers. As the strike continued, production of the seat covers stopped. Three weeks into the strike Barbara Castle, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Employment, was sent to intervene on the 27 June. With the threat of Henry Ford visiting England, the pressure was upped. Strained telegrams from the government stated the productions of 2,200 cars had been brought to a halt and had caused the cancellation of export orders exceeding eight million, with the threatened complete closure of all Ford plants in Britain, affecting 40,000 men. The women workers state in their letter they are sorry for the disruption to the men’s work, ‘but more sorry for ourselves’. Their impact on the economy could not be ignored. Women had long been campaigning for equal pay; in the suffrage era, women saw the vote as a means to influence the government on equal pay. In the 1930s the Six Point Group, a women’s rights organisation, lobbied the government around six principle issues, one of which was ‘equal pay for men and women teachers.’

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The Court of Inquiry appointed by Barbara Castle reassured the women it would look fully into their problem of regrading; it gave them the understanding that, subject to ratification, the women’s rate was to be increased from 85 per cent to 90–92 per cent of the men’s rate. The women workers settled for this agreement. On 28 July, Mr Batty, the Managing Director of Ford Britain, telegrammed the Prime Minister thanking him for his intervention. By 8 July, production had restarted in the plants. Contrary to popular perception, the women did not directly win their demands – the grading of their work did not change. However, this case was fundamental in the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970 by Barbara Castle, for which women had been fighting for decades. As the women of Dagenham stated in their letter, this fight was for ‘not only us at Fords all women everywhere’.

The Dagenham strikers with their placards, 1968.

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A cache of revealing letters written by key players in some of history's most important, notorious, and secret events.

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