Johnny Bevan

'Johnny', as he was always affectionately called by his staff, was 46 years of age when he took over. He was a rather frail-looking man of medium build with sleep, pale-blue eyes and thin fair hair which turned grey from the strain of the remarkable work he accomplished in the three years following his appointment.

By profession he was a stockbroker, the son of a Chairman of the Stock Exchange and head of the great firm of David A. Bevan, Simpson and Company, in which, after the war, he had nearly a score of partners under him. But his pleasure lay in fishing, gardening and other country pursuits. After we had been cooped up together for a few weeks he said to me one morning, 'Dennis, wouldn't you love to have mud on your boots again?' There was nothing I would have like less, but I tactfully refrained from saying so.

He was a much tougher person than he looked and, despite lack of exercise, managed to keep very fit; except that he suffered badly from bouts of insomnia. He walked with a slight slouch and a glimpse of his character was given to me by a friend of his who was his contemporary at Eton. When things were looking pretty bad for his side at cricket, he would shuffle in, about sixth wicket down, knock up 100 and shuffle out again looking rather ashamed of himself.

He was the most modest of men...

'The Deception Planners' p 58.

His most notable feature was a very fine forehead, both broad and deep; and one of his greatest assets an extraordinarily attractive smile. During period of great strain, when he was sleeping particularly badly, he was often irritable and curt. That he was aware of this and unhappy about it is to his credit; for his wife, Barbara, a daughter of the Earl of Lucan, once told me that often when he returned to her in the evening he would say, 'I've been horrid today. How my staff put up with my bad temper I can't imagine'. But, even on those bad days, if one of us made a joke or suggested that he should knock off for a few hours and come out to dinner, that smile which lit up his whole face would immediately flash out. Off duty he made a charming companion and was himself a delightful host.

'The Deception Planners' p 59.

Those times of stress were due to Johnny's occasional bouts of moody irritability. In fairness, it must be said that, for far the greater part of the two and a half years that I worked with him, he was cheerful, receptive, easy to get on with and considerate of his staff., but on days when he was greatly worried he would slouch into our office, glower at us and, sometimes, be downright rude. It is the measure of our respect for his abilities and affection for him as a man that none of us ever protested or quarrelled with him. All of us were old enough to play it cool and tactfully change the conversation. But it was his ill temper which led at this time to our losing Joan Eden...

'DW's unpublished Memoirs, partly reproduced in 'The Deception Planners' p 90.