Beevor, John Grosvenor (Oral history)

30419037
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79513" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1165712715
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79514" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
270939372
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79515" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
935719978
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79516" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1143714455
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79517" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1830200713
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79518" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1042363148
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79519" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1288865260
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80009269&media_id=79520" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Object description

British schoolchild during Imperial German Navy bombardment of Scarborough, GB, 16/12/1914; officer served with H Section, Special Operations Executive in Portugal, 1941-1942; served as assistant to Sir Charles Hambro at Headquarters, Special Operations Executive, Baker Street, London in GB, 1942-1943; served as assistant to Major-General William Stawell in Egypt and Italy, 1944

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Scarborough, GB, 1905-1914: father's occupation, family origins; education at Bramcote School; memories of Imperial German Navy bombardment of Scarborough, 16/12/1914; interest in archaeology, choice of career in law. Aspects of recruitment to Special Operations Executive in GB, 1940: hearing of Special Operations Executive organisation through contact with Sir Frank Nelson; recruitment of solicitor partner Hugh Quennell; story of German organised demonstration against British Embassy in Madrid, Spain, 1941; nature of recruitment interview, 11/1940; attempt to find out more about Inter-Services Reseach Bureau (ISRB), the cover name for Special Operations Executive; leaving his Royal Artillery unit. Recollections of period as officer with H Section, Special Operations Executive in Portugal, 1941-1942: importance of H Section; question of foreknowledge of Iberia; flight from GB to Lisbon, Portugal, 1/1941; initial impressions of Lisbon; diplomatic separation of belligerents in Portugal. REEL 2 Continues: cover as assistant to British military attaché in Lisbon; contact with Russian émigré, Michel Terestchenko; information passed from Michel Terestchenko to penetrate German secret service; German secret service's attempts to gain information from British sailors; duties with H Section; H Section's activities including contingency plans to destroy oil installations in estuary of River Tagus in event of German invasion; liaising with Hugh Quennell in London and with Gibraltar. REEL 3 Continues: opinion of working with Portuguese personnel; establishment of non-Portuguese regional organisers; passing of money to Belgian agent; contingency plans for Portuguese resistance movement; question of contact with anti-Salazar groups. REEL 4 Continues: story of lending his office to Special Intelligence Service and repercussions; disclosure of true role to Antonio Salazar; attempt to have H Section's directives updated, Spring 1942; relations with Special Intelligence Service and Section 5; impressions of Antonio Salazar; relations with Special Intelligence Service. REEL 5 Continues: opinion of work of Special Operations Executive's financial director John Venner; reaction of Special Intelligence Service to penetration of Special Operations Executive operations in Netherlands; background to return to London, 6/1942; liaison between H Section and Office of Strategic Services; attending Special Operations Executive training course at Arisaig, Scotland. Recollections of period as assistant to Sir Charles Hambro at Headquarters, Special Operations Executive, Baker Street, London in GB, 1942-1943: taking up new role, 1942; foreknowledge and opinion of Sir Charles Hambro; observations on growth and development of Special Operations Executive, 1940-1943; relations between Special Operations Executive and conventional forces staff. REEL 6 Continues: stories illustrating relations between Special Operations Executive and Royal Air Force including Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal and with Foreign Office; friction over Special Operations Executive requests for aircraft supply, improvement in situation after 1943; problems of support for Communist resistance in Balkans. REEL 7 Continues: relations between Special Operations Executive and Balkan Communist resistance; Sir Charles Hambro's resignation, 1943. Aspects of period as assistant to Major-General William Stawell in Egypt and Italy, 1944: structure of Special Operations Executive in Mediterranean. REEL 8 Continues: relations with resistance movements.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), First World War (association), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Beevor, John Grosvenor (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1986-11-10
Dimensions: whole: Duration 240, Number Of Items 8
Catalogue number: 9482

Object associations

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Beevor, John Grosvenor (Oral history)

Description

Object description

Content description

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated keywords

Associated themes

Our collections information

Related content

IWM Stories

Timeline of 20th and 21st Century Wars

Reckoning with Refugeedom