Comrade Haldane Is Too Busy to Go on Holiday
Page 33
If I am not forgotten completely a hundred years hence, I shouldn’t wonder if I should be remembered for something which I have not mentioned today. It might be something like, let us say, a letter to The Observatory entitled, ‘Is space-time simply connected?’ I am not going to try to explain to you what that means. It is a rather abstract geometrical idea. It might be the clue to new approaches to cosmology, though I should think it is more than twenty to one that it will not be: it might be—but, still more likely, it will be something which I have completely forgotten now. Some little remark I made in some paper which perhaps someone will dig out and say: ‘Oh, but that explains what I found out last year’. Or perhaps some historian will find out and say: ‘Haldane’s remarkable anticipation of Chew Wong’, or something like that. We do not know. But to take an example, the estimation of human mutation rates was, so to speak, a footnote to what then seemed to me more important.
But I don’t really very much care what people think about me, especially a hundred years hence. I should not like them to be too critical of me as long as my widow and a few friends survive me. But the greatest compliment made to me today, I believe, is when people refer to something which I discovered—for example, that eating ammonium chloride causes acid poisoning in men—as a fact the whole world knows—to quote good old Aunt Jobiska in Lear’s poem about the Pobble—without mentioning me at all. To have got into the tradition of science in that way is to me more pleasing than to be specially mentioned. But what matters, in my opinion, is what I have done, good or evil, and not what people think of me.
APPENDIX 4
VENONA INTERCEPTS
Sections that were redacted on the first release of the decoded intercepts are highlighted like this. The unredacted versions are held in the GCHQ records, National Archives, HW15/43.
0812. July 25, 1940
USSR
Reference: 3/PPDT/T111
THE HON. IVOR MONTAGU (COVERNAME INTELLIGENTSIA) AND THE X GROUP (1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 812
25th July 40
To DIRECTOR.
I have met representatives of the X GROUP [GRUPPA IKS][i]. This is [a] IVOR MONTAGU [MONTEGYu][ii] (brother of Lord MONTAGU [iii]), the well-known local communist, journalist and lecturer. He has [1 group unidentified] contacts through his influential relatives. He reported that he had been detailed to organise work with me, but that he had not yet obtained a single contact. I came to an agreement with him about the work and pointed out the importance of speed. He (INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa] [iv]) reported the following:
1. HITLER’s speech [v] will not make a great impression here. The press has taken it unfavourably. He considers that the SAUSAGE-DEALERS [KOLBASNIKI][vi] were given their answer earlier by CHURCHILL since the SAUSAGE-DEALERS’ conditions passed to the British through KhOSKhOR [vii] and WILSON [viii] proved unacceptable. HALIFAX’s speech [ix] was not only an additional answer to the SAUSAGE-DEALERS but [also][b] the outline of a political programme. The slogan “For Christianity” is similar to one of the conditions in ROOSEVELT’s declaration on the freedom of religion, will also impress PÉTAIN, FRANCO and the Pope and has an anti-fascist edge [to it][b]. INTELLIGENTSIA considers that there is an anti-SAUSAGE-DEALER mood in the army and the knowledge [of this][b] is so strong that the Conservative Party is afraid of risking talking about peace. They might start talks if Britain were to suffer some serious defeat or the SAUSAGE-DEALERS start effective bombing. CHURCHILL continues to stay the main figure of the war in the SAUSAGE-DEALERS’ eyes, but he intends [c] but is supporting CHAMBERLAIN’s group so as to give the anti-SAUSAGE-DEALER mood no chance of developing into a movement of the left.
2. Generals IRONSIDE [x] and GORT [xi] were removed from the leadership because at a parliamentary [C% secret session] on the question of the cause of the defeat in FLANDERS the Minister of Supply proved with documents that the Expeditionary Force [ĒKSPEDITsIYa] was supplied 100 percent in accordance with the instructions of these generals, who are personally responsible for the [B% development] of the mechanized armies.
No. 200BARCH [xii]
Notes:
[a]The translation of this could possibly be “[In] this is”, i.e. in this group is; the plural “representatives” in the first sentence is certainly correctly recovered and seems odd otherwise.
[b]Inserted by translator.
[c]Part of the text has obviously been omitted here.
Comments:
[i] X GROUP: Not identified; see also MOSCOW’s No. 450 of 7th September 1940, and LONDON’s Nos. 895 of 16th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940 and 1188 of 18th October 1940.
[ii] IVOR MONTAGU: Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’s Nos. 895 of 16th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940, 1149 of 11th October 1940 and 1165 of 15th October 1940.
[iii] Lord MONTAGU: Stuart Albert Samuel MONTAGU, 3rd Baron SWAYTHLING.
[iv] INTELLIGENTSIA: i.e. Ivor MONTAGU, see comment [ii].
[v] HITLER’s speech: to the REICHSTAG on 19th July 1940.
[vi] SAUSAGE-DEALERS: the Germans.
[vii] KhOSKhOR: Not identified.
[viii] WILSON: Sir Horace WILSON, Chief Industrial Advisor to CHAMBERLAIN. He acted as a special envoy between the latter and HITLER.
[ix] HALIFAX’s speech: the Earl of HALIFAX’s speech of 22nd July 1940 on the radio.
[x] IRONSIDE: General IRONSIDE, Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
[xi] GORT: General Lord GORT, commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
[xii] BARCh: Possibly Simon Davidovich KREMER, whose official post was Secretary to the Soviet Military Attaché in LONDON. He was appointed in 1937 and is thought to have left sometime in 1946. The covername BARCh occurs as a LONDON addressee and signatory between 3rd March 1940 and 10th October 1940, after which it is superseded by the covername BRION.
0895. August 16, 1940
USSR
Reference: 3/PPDT/T12
1.INTELLIGENTSIA, PROFESSOR HALDANE AND THE X GROUP
2.MARTHA, MARY, DICK AND MARK
3.RECRUITMENT OF HEIN (COVERNAME BAUER)
(1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW:
No: 895
16th Aug. 40
To DIRECTOR.
1. INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa][i] has not yet found the people [a] in the military [C% finance department][VOENNYJ FINANSOVYJ OTDEL][b]. He has been given the address of one officer but he has not found him yet. He has promised to deliver[c] documentary material [MATERIAL] from Professor HALDANE[ii] who is working on an Admiralty [MORSKOE MINISTERSTVO] assignment concerned with submarines and their operation. I have taken the opportunity of pointing out to the X GROUP [GRUPPA IKS][iii] that we need a man of a different calibre and one who is bolder than INTELLIGENTSIA.
2. MARTHA [MARTA][iv] has handed over material on experience [gained from][d] using artillery in France. The material is in French [and][d] we are looking for a translator. In view of MARY’s [ME – RI][v] departure I request permission to put DICK [DIK][vi] or MARK[vii] in touch with MARTHA.
3. A Lieutenant HEIN [viii] of the Czechoslovakian Army has presented himself at the METRO[ix]. He [1 group unidentified] that in October 1939, when he was in an internment camp near KAMENETs-PODOL’SKI[x], he was recruited by somebody for special work [SPETsRABOTA][xi]. His covername is BAUER [BAUE – R] and he has been instructed to [B% look for][KOLYaRSKIJ] [xii]. BAUER is now in the Czechoslovakian camp near MALPAS [xiii]. The total number of Czechoslovakian troops in Britain is about 4,000 other ranks and up to 700 officers. He himself is on the reserve for the time being. In France there was only one Czechoslovakian division. He has confirmed that up to 600 Czechs have been removed from the camp and sent somewhere or other because of their left-wing views. Czecheslovakia [sic] has no weapons. Send instructions at once.
Notes:
&nb
sp; [a] Or “not yet found any people”. The first interpretation seems more likely, however.
[b] Possibly means “War Office Finance Department”.
[c] The form of the Russian verb indicates repeated action.
[d] Inserted by translator.
Comments:
[i] INTELLIGENTSIA: Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940, 1149 of 11th October 1940 and 1165 of 15th October 1940.
[ii] HALDANE: Professor J.B.S. HALDANE, then Professor of Biometry, University College, LONDON. See also LONDON’s No. 987 of 6th September 1940.
[iii] X GROUP. Not identified. See also MOSCOW’s No. 450 of 7th September 1940, and LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940 and 1188 of 18th October 1940.
[iv] MARTHA: Alta Martha LECOUTRE (with aliases), secretary of André LABARTHE and wife of Stanislas SZYMONCZYK (with aliases); was mistress of Pierre COT, French Minister for Air 1933-1937. See also LONDON’s Nos. 776 of 17th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1472), 807 of 24th July 1940 and 987 of 6th September 1940.
[v] MARY: unidentified covername. See also MOSCOW’s No. 482 of 21st September 1940, and LONDON’s Nos. 755 of 11th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1455), 807 of 24th July 1940 and 875 of 13th August 1940.
[vi] DICK: Covername of unidentified LONDON signatory and addressee between 6th July 1940 and 11th October 1940.
[vii] MARK: Unidentified covername. See also LONDON’s Nos. 776 of 17th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1472), 798 of 22nd July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 998 of 11th September 1940 and 1107 of 3rd October 1940.
[viii] HEIN: Not further identified. See also LONDON’s Nos. 998 of 11th September 1940 and 1107 of 3rd October 1940, and MOSCOW’s Nos. 450 of 7th September 1940 and 469 of 16th September 1940.
[ix] METRO: the Soviet Embassy.
[x] KAMENETs-PODOL’SK: 48o35’N 26o35’E.
[xi] Special work: possibly synonymous with SPETsRAZVEDKA (literally “special intelligence”), which is used to mean illegal operations.
[xii] KOLYaRSKIJ: No Russian surname of this form can be found. It is probably a transliteration of the relatively uncommon Czech surname KOLÀSKÝ (cp. PRAGUE Telephone Directory, 1964).
[xiii] MALPAS: approximately 15 miles SSE of CHESTER.
[xiv] BARCh: Possibly Simon Davidovich KREMER, whose official post was Secretary to the Soviet Military Attaché in LONDON. He was appointed in 1937 and is thought to have left sometime in 1946. The covername BARCh appears as a LONDON addressee and signatory between 3rd March 1940 and 10th October 1940, after which it is superseded by the covername BRION.
0987. September 6, 1940
USSR
Reference 3/PPDT/T103
1.JÉRÔME AND MARTHA
2.INTELLIGENTSIA, PROFESSOR HALDANE, NOBILITY AND THE X GROUP
3.MUSE
(1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 987
6th Sept. 40
To DIRECTOR.
1. JÉRÔME [ZhEROM][i] stated that he has been feeling bad [a] recently. He knows that someone has gossiped about him to the British to the effect that he is a left-winger and was in Spain. I advised him not to embark on anything, but to improve his work for the British and the General [ii]. I understood that although he has a post he will nevertheless for the time being be active only in the plan of establishing a factory. He hopes that the British will bring him into [B% organising] the supply of the Allied troops in the French colonies. He handed to us data and drawings of the HISPANO-SUIZA type 404 cannon. The material was taken from [b] in the French Ministry for Air and is dated 1939. State urgently whether this material is of interest to you. From a conversation with MARTHA [MARTA][iii] I understood that JÉRÔME considers that we are not paying him much (£50 for both). It would appear that high prices and the need to maintain a flat are involving them in a lot of expense. I told her that we should help but [the amount of][c] intelligence must be increased.
2. INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa][iv] has handed over a copy of Professor HALDANE’s [v] report to the Admiralty on his experience [d] relating to the length of time a man can stay underwater. However he does not deny the main point that for a month he has not been in touch with the British Army colonel [vi] picked out [VYDELENNYJ] for work with us although the latter does come to LONDON. I have told the X GROUP [GRUPPA IKS][vii] via NOBILITY [ZNAT’][viii] to give us someone else because of this [e]. INTELLIGENTSIA lives in the provinces [ix] and it is difficult to contact him.
3.Yesterday MUSE [MUZA][x] picked up a 30-group telegram from you [xi]. Only individual parts of the telegram were understood.
No. 259.BARCh [xii]
Notes:
[a] The Russian phrase here is normally used in a physical sense in regard to health. The next sentence, however, makes it clear that the conspiratorial meaning of “health” in the sense of “security” is what is in the writer’s mind.
[b] There is obviously an omission at this point in the text.
[c] Inserted by translator.
[d] Or “experiment”.
[e] Or possibly “to do this”.
Comments:
[i] JÉRÔME: André LABARTHE, Director-General of French Armament and Scientific Research at General DE GAULLE’s Headquarters until 12 September 1940. See also LONDON’s Nos. 741 of 8th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1773), 776 of 17th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1472), 791 of 20th July 1940, 798 of 22nd July 1940, 807 of 24th July 1940, 865 of 10th August 1940, 1056 of 23rd September 1940 and 2151 of 6th August 1941 (3NBF/T1477).
[ii] The General: i.e. General DE GAULLE.
[iii] MARTHA: Alta Martha LECOUTRE (with aliases), secretary of André LABARTHE and wife of Stanislas SZYMONCZYK (with aliases); was mistress of Pierre COT, French Minister for Air 1933-1937. See also LONDON’s Nos. 776 of 17th July 1940 (3/NBF/T1472), 807 of 24th July 1940 and 895 of 16th August 1940.
[iv] INTELLIGENTSIA Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940, 1149 of 11th October 1940 and 1165 of 15th October 1940.
[v] HALDANE: Professor J.B.S. HALDANE, then Professor of Biometry, University College, LONDON. See also LONDON’s No. 812 of 25th July 1940.4
[vi] British Army colonel: see also LONDON’s No. 1188 of 18th October 1940 for a British Army colonel (covername RESERVIST) connected with the X GROUP (see comment [vii] below).
[vii] X GROUP: Not identified; see also MOSCOW’s No. 450 of 7th September 1940, and LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940 and 1188 of 18th October 1940.
[viii] NOBILITY: Unidentified covername. See also LONDON’s Nos. 1024 of 17th September 1940, 1170 of 16th October 1940 and 1232 of 30th October 1940 (3/NBF/T1742, first sentence, where NOBILITY occurs as “[l group unidentified]”.).
[ix] Provinces: At this time Ivor MONTAGU was living in WATFORD.
[x] MUSE: Unidentified covername. See also MOSCOW’s Nos. 5839 (internal) of 18th September 1940 and 479 of 20th September 1940; and LONDON’S Nos. 767 of 15th July 1940, 816 of 26th July 1940, 865 of 10th August 1940, 876 of 13th August 1940, 949 of 27th August 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940, 1107 of 3rd October 1940, 1321 of 25th November 1940 (3/NBF/T1618) and 2035 of 31st July 1941 (3/NBF/T1619).
[xi] 30-group telegram: this is probably MOSCOW’s internal serial No. 5264 of 30th August 1940, referring to LOUISA [LUIZA], which is thought to be an error for MUSE [MUZA].
[xii] BARCh: Possibly Simon Davidovich KREMER, whose official post was Secretary to the Soviet Military Attaché in LONDON. He was appointed in 1937 and is thought to have left sometime in 1946. The covername BARCh occurs as a LONDON addressee and signatory between 3rd March 1940 and 10th October 1940, after which it is superseded by the covername BRION.
1099. October 2, 1940
USSR
Reference: 3/PPDT/
T155
1. BRITISH GOVERNMENT VIEWS
2. BREAKING OF A SOVIET CODE REPORTED BY INTELLIGENTSIA AND THE X GROUP
3. GERMAN BOMBING
(1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 1099
2nd Oct. 40
To DIRECTOR.
1. ATTLEE [i] and GREENWOOD [ii], two members of the War Cabinet, have been to the METRO [iii] and stated to the MASTER [KhOZYaIN][iv] that the danger of invasion was not past but the possibility was growing less every day. The Government intended to follow SASHA’s [v] example in supporting China financially in the hope that the latter would use the money to buy armaments in the U.S.S.R. An intensification of German and Italian activity in the Middle East was expected.
2. INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa][vi] has reported that the X GROUP [GRUPPA IKS][vii] has reported to him that a girl working in a government establishment noticed in one document that the British had broken [RASKRYLI] some Soviet code or other and apparently she noticed in a/the document [a] the following [words:][b] “Soviet Embassy in Germany”. I stated that this was a matter of exceptional importance and he should put to the group the question6 of developing this report [further][b].
3. The SAUSAGE-DEALERS’[KOLBASNIKI][viii] night bombing is having a bad effect throughout the country. Trains are running slowly and late. Loading and unloading are slowed down because of the black-out. Some lines [1 group unidentified] do not work for one or two days after a raid. Goods have been sent by canal. The trains are overflowing with refugees from LONDON and other bombed centres.