Comrade Haldane Is Too Busy to Go on Holiday
Page 34
4. [1 group unidentified][c] the SAUSAGE-DEALERS have now mostly been bombing LONDON and LIVERPOOL. In the period 28th-29th September some of the hangars on HESTON Aerodrome, the PHILIPS Map Works on the corner of WESTERN AVENUE and VICTORIA ROAD, the BOWDEN factory located at WILLESDEN JUNCTION, which makes components for aircraft and ships, and an aero-engine factory in SOUTHAMPTON were heavily damaged. The BRUNSWICK DOCK in LIVERPOOL was destroyed. Following a raid 7,000 workers at the SIEMENS electrical instruments factory at WOOLWICH [ix] are idle. The SAUSAGE-DEALERS are continuing to bomb the railway stations at junctions in LONDON.
5. Latterly the SAUSAGE-DEALERS’ heavy bombs have shown that none of the government types of above-ground shelter is any good. At night the Underground is overflowing with people, notwithstanding the instructions of the authorities. An epidemic is possible because of the start of the cold weather and the unhygienic conditions. The Government’s plan is to reduce the population of LONDON to five million. Use of the Underground and other places can provide quarters for 500,000 people. It is difficult to understand the Government’s statement [4 groups garbled][d].
No. 2907
Notes:
[a]It is not clear from the text whether this is the same document as the one first mentioned, or a different one.
[b]Inserted by translator.
[c]This group probably has the general meaning of “according to reports”.
[d]The signature of the message is probably among these groups.
Comments:
[i] ATTLEE: Clement ATTLEE, then Lord Privy Seal.
[ii] GREENWOOD: Arthur GREENWOOD, then Minister without Portfolio.
[iii] METRO: The Soviet Embassy.
[iv] MASTER: The Ambassador.
[v] SAShA: the United States. For an explanation of this coverword see LONDON’s No. 998 of 11th September 1940 (3/PPDT/T12).
[vi] INTELLIGENTSIA: Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’S Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1149 of 11th October 1940 and 1165 of 15th October 1940.
[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, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940 and 1188 of 18th October 1940.
[viii] SAUSAGE-DEALERS: the Germans.
1149. October 11, 1940
USSR
Reference: 3/PPDT/T148
1.GERMAN BOMBING OF LONDON
2.INFORMATION FROM THE FRIENDS
3.INTELLIGENTSIA
(1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 1149
11th Oct. 40
To DIRECTOR.
1. In recent nights the SAUSAGE-DEALERS [KOLBASNIKI][i] have been stepping up the bombing of LONDON, whilst the gunfire has fallen off slightly. The SOUTH HAMPSTEAD railway junction has been damaged [and][a] traffic [1 group unidentified]. Admiral EVANS [ii], who is in charge of the shelters in LONDON, stated to the MASTER [KhOZYaIN][iii] of the METRO [iv] that a one-ton bomb dropped there had made a crater 21 metres deep. A 250-kg bomb dropped last night in the HATTON GARDEN area destroyed a chemical works and badly damaged our trade delegation [building][a]. Information on a map captured from the SAUSAGE-DEALERS reveals that LONDON is divided up into small squares and each has a numbered target in a definite [C% category]. The SAUSAGE-DEALERS are over LONDON throughout the night, one aircraft at a time on each flight path.
2. According to the FRIENDS’ [DRUZ’Ya][v] information the SHORT aircraft factory in ROCHESTER has been completely destroyed and 5,000 workers are being transferred to SWINDON, where new production of [1 group garbled] and transport aircraft will be developed on the basis of the PHILLIPS aircraft factory where trainer aircraft were produced previously.
3. INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa][vi] confirms that the British really do render delayed-action bombs safe by freezing [b] the bombs’ exploder mechanism.
No. 306BRION [vii]
Notes:
[a]Inserted by translator.
[b]The Russian term may be taken literally or metaphorically.
Comments:
[i] SAUSAGE-DEALERS: the Germans.
[ii] EVANS: Admiral Sir EDWARD R.G.R. EVANS, appointed LONDON Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence in 1939.
[iii] MASTER: The Ambassador.
[iv] METRO: The Soviet Embassy.
[v] FRIENDS: members of the Communist Party.
[vi] INTELLIGENTSIA: Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940 and 1165 of 15th October 1940.
[vii] BRION: Col. I.A. SKLYaROV, Soviet Military and Air Attaché in LONDON 1940-1946. This is the earliest occurrence of the covername BRION as a signature (or address) in a LONDON message.
1165. October 15, 1940
USSR
Reference: 3/PPDT/T19
1.GERMAN BOMBING
2.INTELLIGENTSIA
(1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 1165
15th Oct. 40
To DIRECTOR.
[1.][a] In the area that we can see we observed the following method of attack by the SAUSAGE-DEALERS [KOLBASNIKI][i]: first of all they dropped six flash bombs [OSVETITEL’NAYa BOMBA][b]; after they had fallen a considerable part of KENSINGTON was [B% dotted] for a time with a large number of small fires [SVETOVYE TOChKI][c] which were extinguished with sand. As they fell the flash bombs were fired at and machine-gunned with tracer bullets. One was shot down. The first aircraft after the alert flew lower than usual, obviously so as to be able to aim as it dropped its flash bombs. A few minutes after [the start of][a] the raid the SAUSAGE-DEALERS’ flash bombs had established a seat of fire in several places, and afterwards throughout the night they dropped bombs in various parts of the city while flying at a height of about 4,000-6,000 metres. Explosions of special bombs that produce a strong light for 5-6 seconds were observed for the first time. From observations of the gunfire it can be concluded that the SAUSAGE-DEALERS come into LONDON from the east, south-east and south. No more than three series of explosions [at a time][a] were observed. Despite the moonlit, cloudless night British fighter aircraft did not take part in the defence.
2. INTELLIGENTSIA [INTELLIGENTsIYa][ii] has reported [the following][a] as a result of a conversation with an officer of the Air Ministry:
The shortage of trained night navigators is confirmed by the fact that the SAUSAGE-DEALERS have not used strong forces of aircraft in night air-raids on Britain. He stated that the British pilots who fly by night over Germany have an extra four months’ training in addition to the usual six months’ training. Apparently when there has been no [anti-aircraft][a] fire the SAUSAGE-DEALERS have been bombing from a height of up to 5,000 metres and at a speed of 290kph, and from 6,000-7,000 metres at a speed of 400 kph when there has been no firing. He considers that the SAUSAGE-DEALERS proceed towards the target along a radio beam.
No. 309BRION [iii]
Notes:
[a]Inserted by translator.
[b]Presumably “flares” [SVETYaShchAYa BOMBA] are actually meant.
[c]Literally “points of light”.
Comments:
[i] SAUSAGE-DEALERS: the Germans.
[ii] INTELLIGENTSIA: Hon. Ivor Goldsmid Samuel MONTAGU. See also LONDON’s Nos. 812 of 25th July 1940, 895 of 16th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1099 of 2nd October 1940 and 1149 of 11th October 1940.
[iii] BRION: Col. I.A. SKLYaROV, Soviet Military and Air Attaché in LONDON 1940-1946. BRION’s first appearance as a signatory (or addressee) is in LONDON’S No. 1149 of 11th October 1940.
1188. October 18, 1940
USSR
Reference 3/PPDT/T21
RESERVIST AND THE X GROUP (1940)
From: LONDON
To: MOSCOW
No: 1188
18th Oct. 40
/>
To DIRECTOR.
1.BARCh [i] had a meeting today with one of [the members of][a] the X GROUP [GRUPPA IKS][ii]. This was an artillery colonel [iii] who had been in the British Expeditionary Force [ĒKSPEDITsIONNAYa ARMIYa], but who at present is out of active service and doing a job at the Ministry of Supply because he was seriously wounded. He thinks that he will be returning to service in the regular army in two months’ time. RESERVIST [REZERVIST][iv] has agreed to work with us. He has promised to bring to the next meeting in a fortnight’s time his notes on the campaign in France and information on the way the British Army is organised.
2.RESERVIST reports that the process of reorganizing the army continues. The organisational structure of the Home Forces [ARMIYa METROPOLII] command [ShTAB OKRUGA], army corps, division. There are individual garrison districts which are directly subordinate to the C.-in-C. Home Forces, e.g. the DOVER Garrison which includes two infantry brigades and one tank division. The composition of an infantry battalion is: two infantry companies, one machine-gun company consisting of two heavy machine-gun platoons and one anti-tank defence platoon. A brigade consists of three battalions. Each brigade deployed in a war zone has its own independent defence sectors and divisional reinforcements are placed under the command of brigades.
3.Tanks are the main item of the work of the Ministry of Supply. [The following][a] are in mass production: 14-ton cruiser tanks and 25-ton ARMSTRONG-WOLSELEY MK-8’s armed with one 37 mm gun and two BROWNING machine-guns (it has been suggested that a machine-gun be tried on the turret for anti-aircraft fire). There were five tank divisions in the British Expeditionary Force in France; he does not know how many tank divisions there are now. 300 light tanks are expected to arrive from SAShA [v]. A battalion of light tanks consists of three companies with 30 tanks per company. A battalion of 25-ton tanks is 40 strong. The different kind of organisation can be explained by the shortage of officers.
4.In France the British had 25 and 36 mm anti-tank guns. They proved to be too light against the German tanks and were replaced by 75 mm French guns which were successful in action. The arming of units with 49 mm anti-tank guns is now beginning. Anti-tank units are now being brought together into a brigade for training.
5.Artillery batteries are armed with 18 and 25-pounder guns. The LONDON air defence is now using new 6-inch guns as well as the 4.5-inch A.A. guns. They are experimenting with new 4.9-inch A.A. guns.
6.He considers that the War Office [VOENNOE MINISTERSTVO] is not making the slightest use of the experience of the French and the coastal defence is based on a network of blockhouses that are weak in design with no allowance made for the manoeuvrability or strong artillery and tank equipment of the SAUSAGE-DEALERS [KOLBASNIKI][vi].
No. 312BRION[vii]
Notes:
[a]Inserted by translator.
Comments:
[i] 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.
[ii] 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 l6th August 1940, 987 of 6th September 1940, 1071 of 26th September 1940 and 1099 of 2nd October 1940.
[iii] Artillery colonel: see also LONDON’s No. 987 of 6th September 1940 for mention of a British Army colonel.
[iv] RESERVIST: i.e. the artillery colonel; not further identified. For a similar casual introduction of a cover-name see LONDON’S No. 812 of 25th July 1940 (INTELLIGENTSIA).
[v] SAShA: the United States. For an explanation of this coverword see LONDON’s No. 998 of 11th September 1940 (3/PPDT/T12).
[vi] SAUSAGE-DEALERS: the Germans.
[vii] BRION: Col. I.A. SKLYaROV, Soviet Military and Air Attaché in LONDON 1940-1946. BRION’s first appearance as a signatory (or addressee) is in LONDON’s No. 1149 of 11th October.
APPENDIX 5
IN SUPPORT OF LYSENKO
The date of this document is circa December 15, 1948. It is unsigned, but accompanying material suggests the authors included Angus Bateman, who may have drafted it. The text was marked up by Haldane, whose critical annotations appear here as notes prefaced by [JBS]. His handwriting is illegible at times. The original is in the Haldane Papers, University College London.1
A DISCUSSION STATEMENT
1.Bourgeois Science and Soviet Science.
2.The Science of Biology.
3.Michurin Biology and Mendelian Genetics.
4.The Success of Michurin Biology.
5.A Note on Dialectical Materialism and Heredity.
1. BOURGEOIS SCIENCE AND SOVIET SCIENCE
In the early days of capitalism science flourished and achieved many triumphs. Even from the first, however, bourgeois social relations imposed limitations upon the advance of scientific practice and theory.
When capitalism began to decay much of its science, from being a weapon in the fight to master nature, became a weapon in the conduct of imperialist war, fascist racialism, the fight against the working class and the U.S.S.R. Unable to control, understand, or predict its own violent crisis, capitalism infected scientific theory with a pessimism which tended to regard things as unknowable, beyond human control, and thus subject to chance. Scientists, increasingly separated from the working people, from practice, had neither opportunity nor incentive to wrest ever more from nature for a society that dreaded conditions of over-production as disastrous. In these conditions Biology, the science of living organisms, became limited, pessimistic, and relatively sterile.2
In the Soviet Union the victory of the revolution permitted (meant) the liberation of science from academic trends, meant its full deployment in the struggle with nature, and meant the participation of all the population in the work of science. Armed with the theory of Marxism-Leninism Soviet science had all the means for unlimited advance. With the achievement and consolidation of Socialism, Soviet science is ridding itself of the last limitations imposed by reactionary bourgeois theory, and is now free to make advances of a kind impossible elsewhere in the world.
2. THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY
One of the greatest achievements of capitalist science was the theory of Darwin which gave a partially materialist explanation of the way in which animals and plants have evolved. Darwin showed that if changes occurred in living organisms which could be inherited by their offspring, and if a favourable selection of the fittest individuals took place, then constant improvement of the species would follow. He pointed out that the practice of selecting the best individuals for breeding had resulted in the continued improvement of domestic animals. He collected much evidence to show that in the wild state a continued selection of the fittest took place, and suggested that the evolution of organisms could thus be explained.
After Darwin’s death his theory was distorted by capitalist science. Weismann and the Mendelian geneticists produced the theory that the nature of every organism was controlled by the chromosomes contained within every cell. Mendelians believe that the chromosomes bear particles, the genes, that are self-reproducing and unaffected by changes in the mode of life of the organism. In this way Mendelians seek to account for the failure of the effects of gross mutilations of the organism to be reproduced in its offspring.3 For them the genes in the germ cells are not affected by changes in the function of the organism brought about by changes in its mode of life. In face of the fact that the nature of organisms has changed in the course of evolution, but unable to relate those changes directly with changes in their mode of life, the Mendelists are forced to the position that genes do change, but only rarely and by chance. Mendelists investigating the way in which gene mutations occur have used certain physical and chemical agents (X-rays, heat, mustard gas) to change the gene substance. Those agents being unrelated to the normal mode of l
ife of the organisms subjected to them, cause only random changes in the genes, the great majority of which are deleterious to the organism.4 By this separation of the changes in the cell from changes in the mode of life of the organism the Mendelists have been self-condemned to failure to understand heredity and the nature of evolution.
The theory that only random changes in the genes can provide evolutionary novelty gives rise to a pessimistic view of the possibilities of directing evolution in a way valuable to man. Mendelists have to admit that practical breeders have enormously improved hundreds of species of animals and plants, but they deny that these results are connected with a systematic improvement of the conditions of life combined with selection.5 For them the improvement is the result of the sorting out, by selection, of a stock of favourable genes existing in the ancestors of the organisms before their domestication.6 Apart from these already existing genes, Mendelism also considers the possibility that in the course of selection, but independent of it, new genes of a favourable nature arise by mutation. Once the original stock of genes has been sorted out only these rare and chance mutations give hope of further progress, which must therefore be very slow.
Imperialist exploiters use the Mendelian theory as showing that colonial peoples have an inherent inferiority in consequence of their possession of a poor complement of genes.7 On the other hand, to the working people of capitalist countries Mendelism declares that their exploitation with its consequent malnourishment, poverty, and ill-health has no effect on their children, and may therefore be the better endured.8 Thus is Mendelism used as a weapon of Fascist Imperialist exploitation. The protests of honest Mendelians to whom this use is abhorrent are powerless to prevent it.
Capitalist biology further more states that in nature every member of a species is constantly engaged in a struggle against members of its own species for the limited supply of food.9 This theory, owing its origin to the unnatural relations of capitalist society, seeks to defend the barbarities of capitalism and, at the same time, to divide the workers in their struggle by making each the enemy of his fellows.