The John Batchelor Show

THE LEGACY OF THE AMATEUR SPIES Colleague Charles Spicer. Graham Christie and Philip Conwell-Evanscompiled a rare book titled None So Blind, printing only 100 copies to document their warnings to the Britishgovernment about the Nazi threat. Their efforts went largely unrecognized until historian Martin Gilbert began to correct the record, moving beyond the simplistic "Guilty Men" narrative to acknowledge that appeasement was a widely supported strategy at the time. The protagonists met modest ends: Ernest Tennant's memoir was overlooked, Conwell-Evans lived quietly in Notting Hill, and the heroic Christie died by suicide in his nineties, leaving behind only a small plaque in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Travelers Club remains one of the few places where their story—and the history of these attempts to civilize the Nazis—is remembered. NUMBER 16 1945-46 GORING AT NUREMBERG

NUREMBERG AND THE POST-WAR SILENCE Colleague Charles Spicer. At the Nuremberg trials, Ribbentropappeared a broken man, attempting to call amateur spies like Conwell-Evans as witnesses to prove his pre-war desire for peace, a defense that ultimately failed to excuse his war crimes. His widow, Anneliese, later wrote memoirs obsessing over social slights in London, displaying a detachment from the reality of the Holocaust. Conversely, in the "Ministries Trial," Lord Vansittart denied his connections to the German resistance, likely because admitting to these chaotic back-channel efforts was too uncomfortable for a Foreign Office that preferred the narrative of inevitable total war. Consequently, the Anglo-German Fellowship, despite having had government approval, was brushed under the carpet of history, its role in attempting to avert catastrophe largely forgotten. NUMBER 15 1945-46 TRIBUNAL JUDGES.

THE FALL OF FRANCE AND THE FLIGHT OF HESS Colleague Charles Spicer. As the German army overran France and the Low Countries in May 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister and began utilizing the intelligence Christie had provided through Vansittart. The summer of 1940 also saw the publication of Guilty Men, a polemic that unfairly blamed appeasers for the war, simplifying a complex history and embedding a narrative of betrayal in the public consciousness. Across the Atlantic, Lord Lothian, having turned against Germany, successfully persuaded Roosevelt to support Britain, crucial for the war effort. The narrative touches on the bizarre flight of Rudolf Hess to Scotland, who sought the Duke of Hamilton—a figure connected to the Fellowship—in a deluded attempt to negotiate peace between the two nations. NUMBER 14 1946 HANGED WILHELM FRICK AT NUREMBERG

THE PHONY WAR AND CONTINUED CONSPIRACIES Colleague Charles Spicer. Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the amateur spies remained active during the "Phony War," engaging with renewed efforts by the German opposition to replace the government. While the Oster Conspiracy remained a theoretical possibility, an independent assassination attempt by Georg Elser failed to kill Hitler, unrelated to the diplomatic plots. Graham Christie continued to meet with Hermann Göring, who played both sides, leading Christie to conclude that while Göring was evil, he might have been a preferable alternative for a negotiated peace. Meanwhile, Ernest Tennant risked his life on missions to Norway, and despite the bravery of these intermediaries in providing accurate information about the German threat, the British government still failed to fully grasp the scale of the danger before the invasion of France. NUMBER 13 0CT0BER 16, 1946 HANGED JULIUS STRIECHER REMAINS.

THE TENNANT MISSION AND THE SUMMER OF 1939 Colleague Charles Spicer. In the summer of 1939, Ernest Tennant undertook a secret mission to Austria to meet his former friend Ribbentrop, acting with the plausible deniability of 10 Downing Street. At a confiscated castle, Tennant learned that Hitler was mirroring Ribbentrop'saggressive stance, planning a long war and targeting Poland. This intelligence convinced London to accelerate a defense pact with Poland, though Chamberlain failed to secure a necessary alliance with the Soviet Union due to his personal antipathy toward Stalin. Despite accurate intelligence from the amateur spies regarding the imminent invasion of Polandand the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the British leadership failed to act decisively or explore regime change, missing the final opportunities to stop the dictator before the outbreak of hostilities. NUMBER 12 1946 DEFENSE ATTORNEYS AT NUREMBERG