Forgeries revealed at Kew

Kyt · May 4, 2008

Forgeries revealed in the National Archives - Times Online

IT began with a letter uncovered nine years ago addressed by a duke to “Dear Mr Hitler”. One of the most extraordinary academic detective stories of modern times ended yesterday when the National Archives, the official custodian of Britain’s history, admitted that it had been the victim of a master forger.

The public records office, which holds the written record of the British state going back 800 years, said its reputation had been compromised by the discovery that 29 documents from 12 separate files were all forgeries inserted into its records.

The forged documents all relate to alleged British perfidy in the second world war. The archive says the papers had supported sensational allegations by Martin Allen, a self-styled “eminent” historian, in three recent books. These include claims that the Duke of Windsor was a traitor and that British agents had murdered Hitler’s SS boss, Hein-rich Himmler, on Winston Churchill’s orders.

The archive also released witness statements given by senior officials to the police. In one of them, Louise Atherton, an archivist, is particularly critical of Allen, saying he “relied heavily” on forged files and accusing him of “significant” exaggeration and inaccurate quotation in his use of the contents of genuine ones.

Allen was unavailable yesterday. One of his former literary agents, Robert Smith, said that Allen had previously denied any involvement in the forgeries.

Suspicions about the authenticity of documents used by Allen were raised by The Sunday Times eight years ago in relation to his book Hidden Agenda: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies.

It accused the Queen’s uncle of helping the Germans to conquer France and defeat the British army in the early stages of the second world war.

Allen’s scoop was based largely on what he said was a handwritten letter from the duke to Adolf Hitler dated November 1939. It begins, “Dear Mr Hitler”, and is signed, “EP”, for Edward Prince, an abbreviation the duke occasionally used.

The letter makes veiled references to a tour of the French frontline defences that the duke had just made. It asks Hitler to pay close attention to information the man bringing the letter to him has memorised.

The courier was a German spy, and Allen argues that through him the duke gave Hitler top-secret strategic information that enabled the Germans to attack France at the weakest points in its defences. France fell in six weeks and the British forces were routed.

The letter appears to suggest that the duke, who abdicated in 1936, was willing to resume the throne once Britain had been bullied into a peace settlement.

The Sunday Times commissioned experts to examine the document. Robert Radley, a forensic documents examiner, found “many discrepancies” that made him “highly suspicious”.

Leslie Dicks, another expert, concluded that the letter was “most probably a forgery”.

A paper analyst, Leslie Bowyer, found evidence the letter had been written on a blank page from an old book, a classic forger’s trick. This and other evidence, Bowyer said, “all combine to suggest that this letter is a forgery and probably done relatively recently”.

When challenged to explain these findings, Allen insisted the letter was genuine. He said it had been given to his late father, also a writer on the Nazi era, by Albert Speer, Hitler’s former munitions minister. He said he had found it in his attic.

The Sunday Times declined to serialise the book but it was published and The Observer newspaper nominated Hidden Agenda for book of the year.

There the matter might have lain as an unresolved mystery but in 2003 Allen published The Hitler/Hess Deception, which argued that the flight of Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, in 1941 was part of a plot to oust Churchill. Once again Allen was challenging the standard version of events, and using documents to prove his thesis.

His next book, Himmler’s Secret War, published two years later, reinforced the forgery concerns. It cited documents from the National Archives that purported to show that British agents acting on Churchill’s orders murdered Himmler, the head of the SS, in 1945 in order to cover up British peace feelers towards him. This contradicted accepted accounts that Himmler had killed himself.

Alarm bells soon rang. Letter-heads on the correspondence supposedly written in 1945 had been created on a high-resolution laser printer. Signatures were found to be written over pencil tracings. Handwriting of different officials was suspiciously similar. Diplomatic titles and key dates were wrong.

Once more Allen denied culpability. He told The Sunday Times: “I think I have been set up. But I do not even know by whom. I am devastated.”

The National Archives conducted an investigation which confirmed that five documents used in the book had been forged. The inquiry also discovered more forged documents, cited in The Hitler/Hess Deception and in Hidden Agenda. Once 17 documents had been identified as likely forgeries, Scot-land Yard was called in. Allen was interviewed by police. Again he denied forgery.

Last year Mike O’Brien, then solicitor-general, said in a parliamentary answer the Crown Prosecution Service had decided there was enough evidence against Allen “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”. The CPS had decided, however, it was not in the public interest to proceed. He said Allen’s “health and the surrounding circumstances” had contributed to the decision. There was no further explanation.

That decision has upset some leading historians. Sir Max Hastings, an expert on the second world war, said: “It is hard to imagine actions more damaging to the cause of preserving the nation’s heritage than wilfully forging documents designed to alter our historical record.”

John Fox, a historian specialising in Nazi Germany, said the National Archives’ statement casts doubt on the veracity of documents in other collections.

“How on earth were these documents slipped in? This is something that the National Archives has to answer. Whoever got these documents in must have done it in a very clever, sneaky way, so you can’t entirely blame the security. But maybe there are questions with the security.”

The National Archives said yesterday that new security procedures had been put in place.
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Brian S · May 4, 2008

Forged Documents

Kyt said: ↑

Forgeries revealed in the National Archives - Times Online
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Anyone who has used T.N.A. in the last couple of years will have been aware of the problem.

The added security includes the stapling of any loose pages of notes you have before they can be taken into the reading rooms. At present the security has been moved up to the first floor reading room entrance. Added security now does not cover the micro film rooms as it had done prior to the ongoing alterations.
A step forward for security,I think not.

Kitty · May 4, 2008

when i was there last year all books and pencils were put into clear plastic bags and they were checked going in and coming out. Now i know why.

Hugh · May 4, 2008

Just recently, the National Archives have withdrawn access to Board of Trade files (BT) via their Digital Express service. These files contain the records of merchant seamen and include personal information. It would appear the service has been suspended until the removal of NI numbers and other personal information that could be of use to fraudsters.

I understand these files, at present, can only be accessed by visit to the archives and I await further information from them.

From the above piece in the Times, now we know why.
Regards
Hugh

Brian S · May 4, 2008

T.n.a.

Kitty said: ↑

when i was there last year all books and pencils were put into clear plastic bags and they were checked going in and coming out. Now i know why.
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Plastic carriers are provided for those who need them,but I use an A4 clear Plastic case. The check on what goes in and out of the reading room is quite thorough even if you pass through the door several times during the day. At present you do not need a readers card to use the first floor micro film room,but one is needed for the readers and large document rooms. Although I have used T.N.A. for many years now that my readers card is almost expired I will still have to take two forms of personal identification to get a renewal. Both will have to show my address.
Fine if this prevents any further problems. The relaxation of security in the Micro Film room takes a little understanding though.

Brian

Kyt · May 6, 2008

FT.com / World - Historians seek archive forgery probe

Eight of the UK’s best-known historians are calling on Tuesday for an official inquiry into the apparent attempt to rewrite history by infiltrating forged documents among genuine files in the National Archives.

As the Financial Times revealed on Saturday, police found that 29 forgeries were smuggled into the archives and later cited in works of history to support, among other allegations, a claim that British intelligence murdered Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi SS, on the orders of Winston Churchill. But although the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service concluded that there was enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction against a suspect, it also decided it would not be in the public interest to proceed. In reaching that decision, the suspect’s health played a “significant role”, the solicitor-general said.

In a letter to the FT on Tuesday, the historians, including Sir John Keegan, Sir Ian Kershaw, Antony Beevor and Niall Ferguson, say the matter is a “cause for concern”.

They add: “That concern is exacerbated by the fact that, despite a lengthy police investigation, no prosecution will take place in connection with this apparent attempt to distort our view of the past.”

Police found that the forged documents were placed in 12 separate files over a six-year period beginning in 1999. They were used to substantiate claims, including the idea that British intelligence murdered Himmler in 1945 to prevent him telling the US that Britain had been involved in secret peace talks before the German surrender.

Previously, there had been no challenge to the account of Himmler’s suicide by breaking a cyanide capsule hidden in his teeth.

According to experts from the archives, the only support for the murder theory or the idea that Britain entered peace talks with Himmler, came from the counterfeit documents.

The historians say: “The integrity and reputation of the National Archives, and other institutions like it around the world, are precious commodities.

“In the absence of a judicial process, it must surely be in the public interest for some kind of official report on this matter to be compiled and published.”

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP, told the FT: “Any suggestion that the nation’s public records may have been compromised for political or personal purposes is a matter that the authorities need to take very seriously. I am concerned that the failure of the CPS to pursue this particular case further sends out entirely the wrong signals.”
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Sir, Your report (May 3) that the National Archives in Kew was seeded with 29 forged documents is a cause for concern among historians. That concern is exacerbated by the fact that, despite a lengthy police investigation, no prosecution will take place in connection with this apparent attempt to distort our view of the past.

The integrity and reputation of the National Archives, and other institutions like it around the world, are precious commodities.

In the absence of a judicial process, it must surely be in the public interest for some kind of official report on this matter to be compiled and published.

That would act as a deterrent to those who might be tempted to undertake similar activities. It would also quash speculation about the origin of, and motivation behind, these forgeries.

John Keegan
Ian Kershaw
Max Hastings
M.R.D. Foot
Antony Beevor
Niall Ferguson
Andrew Roberts
Tristram Hunt
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Kitty · May 7, 2008

this could be interesting

Gibbo · May 7, 2008

Having to put your stuff into a clear plastic bag when entering or leaving an archive is common, certainly the British Library & the National Library of Scotland use the same process. I'd guess that the problem in this case is that they were expecting people to steal documents, not bring in forgeries. A number of combat reports by WWI aces went missing from the NA some years ago.

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