Richard Crossman
Richard Crossman (1907--1974) was a Cabinet Minister in the Labour Government of 1964-1970.[1]
Crossman became a fellow of New College, Oxford in 1930, and assistant editor of the New Statesman in 1938.[2]
World War Two
Crossman joined the Ministry of Economic Warfare in 1940.[2] By September 1941, he had been appointed Regional Director of the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) for Germany.[3] From November 1940, he was housemaster of the Neu-Beginn Research Unit, a left-wing radio station within the SO1 section of the Special Operations Executive.[4]
A.R. Warmsley said of Crossman's relationship with Sefton Delmer:
- "It was fairly clear from the outset that Delmer and Crossman were incompatibles, not only in character but in their approach to propaganda. Delmer, however, never gave Crossman (his titular superior) any reason for suspecting "disloyalty", and the only effect of the incompatibility (I believe) was to slow down the taking over by Delmer of all black propaganda."[5]
Early in 1942, Crossman's department proposed a more friendly approach towards German Conservatives in an attempt to split the German Army from the Nazi Party. This was vigorously opposed by Noel Newsome of the BBC who proposed a line based on that of Thomas Mann.[6]
During 1942, Crossman was responsible for a controversial incident in which Air-Vice Marshal Arthur Harris gave a talk in a broadcast to Germany without Cabinet approval.[7]
Crossman visited Washington and New York for 16 days in October 1942, and submitted a report on political warfare arrangements in the US on his return.[8]
In February 1943, he was appointed Director of Political warfare for Enemy and Satellite (DPW(E&S).However, he was posted to North Africa shortly afterwards.[9] In the spring of 1943, Crossman was appointed to a direction committee for 'sibs', the British term for rumours as a form of propaganda.[10]
In September 1943, Crossman was involved in drawing up 'Plan Cyclone', covering the Allied armistice with Italy. According to the official history of the PWE, he was himself responsible for directives formulating a policy he later criticised.[7] He warned Allied leaders against saying anything that would undermine Marshal Badoglio, but wrote later in the New Statesman:
- For a few weeks in that summer of 1943, the back door of Europe was wide open. The Churchill strategy might have won the war outright... mr Churchill's monarchism proved the undoing of his strategy.[7]
From 1944 to 1945, he was assistant chief of the Psychological Warfare Department at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).[2] He was appointed at the request of Brigadier Robert McClure in a role with a co-equal American counterpart, C.D. Jackson.[11]
Politics
Crossman was Labour MP for Coventry East from 1945 to 1974.[2]
During the late 1940s, Crossman was concerned about anti-Zionist propaganda broadcasts from the Sharq al-Adna radio station. According to Stephen Dorril, it may have been Crossman who tipped of Communist MP Philip Piratin about the the British-controlled station's activities.[12]
Associated with the Bevanite faction in the 1950s, had subtly disassociated himself by 1960.[13]
Affiliations
External Resources
- NameBase CROSSMAN RICHARD
Notes
- ↑ David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900-2000, Macmillan, 2000, p.95.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.19.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.86 .
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.41.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.47.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.109.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.303.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.271.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.127.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.214.
- ↑ David Garnett, The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive 1939-1945, St Ermin's Press, 2002, p.328.
- ↑ ↑ Stephen Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Touchstone, 2002, p.539.
- ↑ Stephen Dorril and Robin Ramsay, Smear: Wilson and the Secret State, Fourth Estate Limited, 1991, p.23.
