Etonian's 1940 German peace offer revealed
Secret files made public today reveal how an Etonian fascist sympathiser was used by the British government in an ill-fated attempt to explore the possibility of a peace deal with Germany during the Second World War. Memos written by the security service, MI5, and released by the National Archives, show James Lonsdale-Bryans, who was known to hold extreme right wing views, was given Foreign Office clearance to make secret trips to Italy.
One file states that in 1940 Lonsdale-Bryans went 'with the connivance if not the approval of the Foreign Office in order to make contact with a highly placed German ambassador in Italy, Ulrich von Hassel. Lonsdale-Bryans thought the ambassador might be sympathetic to the negotiation of peace if a rightwing anti-Nazi government could be established in Germany.'
Elements of the plan were known by the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, but it quickly became a major source of embarrassment for the government when, according to the files, Lonsdale-Bryans 'far exceeded his brief' by attempting to contact senior Nazis including Hitler'.
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One file states that in 1940 Lonsdale-Bryans went 'with the connivance if not the approval of the Foreign Office in order to make contact with a highly placed German ambassador in Italy, Ulrich von Hassel. Lonsdale-Bryans thought the ambassador might be sympathetic to the negotiation of peace if a rightwing anti-Nazi government could be established in Germany.'
Elements of the plan were known by the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, but it quickly became a major source of embarrassment for the government when, according to the files, Lonsdale-Bryans 'far exceeded his brief' by attempting to contact senior Nazis including Hitler'.