The reaction to DW’s History of LCS as recorded in DW’s unpublished memoirs

Some time during 1943 Johnny asked me to write a History of our Section. This I started to do and got as far as the time when Harold, Ronald and James had joined Johnny and myself.

I endeavoured to make it a really living document, describing the difficulties with which we had been faced in our early days and giving word portraits of everyone concerned. One night, long before I had brought it up to date, that sneak Harold was prying in my basket, found it, read it and showed it to Johnny.

The following day Johnny returned it to me, remarking coldly. “This won’t do at all, Dennis. No-one will want to read all this nonsense about the sort of people we are. What I require for our files is a simple, straightforward record of the operations we have carried out.”

How wrong he was, seeing that the document was intended for posterity. But it was O.K. by me. I was delighted to be relieved of the job; although later, as I have kept the original copy, it has proved of considerable value while writing these memoirs.

No other history of L.C.S. was attempted until some time after the war was over. Germany having been defeated, Ronald was sent out to the Far East to relieve Peter Fleming and, for his services there, awarded the O.B.E. On the collapse of Japan he came back to London and took over from Johnny as Controlling Officer so that Johnny might return to civilian life. Having little to occupy him, Ronald then proceeded to write the official history of L.C.S.

His final conclusion was that, during the last two years of the war, by threats and ruses we had kept 400,000 German troops standing idle, in readiness to repel attacks that never matured. Not a bad performance for seven civilians.