Sir Cecil Francis Joseph Dormer (1883-1979)

Aaron to Insert photo of just Cecil in the newspaper

photo of both him and his wife leaving Norway unless a
better one can be found
Cecil Francis Joseph Dormer was born on 14 February (or March) in 1883
in Kensington, Greater London, Middlesex and lived a long, industrious,
respected and celebrated life, dying at the grand old age of 96 in 1979.
He was the tenth child and fifth son of the Honourable Hubert Francis
Dormer and Mary Jane Elizabeth Digby; and the grandson of the 11th
Baron Dormer.

Cecil held the romantic and gentlemanly title of Knight Diplomat.

In the Catholics Who’s Who and Year Book of 1908, his father, Hubert
Francis Dormer, who was a clerk in the Admiralty, is listed as late of the
Admiralty – born 1837 son of the 11th and uncle of the (then) present Lord
Dormer. Hubert was educated at Oscott and married Mary, daughter of
Kenelm Henry Digby, author of the ‘Broadstone of Honour’, in 1865. Mary
was the granddaughter of the Dean of Clonfert.

On 25 February 1915 Cecil married Lady Mary Alice Clara Feilding, the
first daughter and 3rd child of ten children of Rudolph Robert Basil Aloysius
Augustine Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh, and the Honourable Cecilia Mary
Clifford. Both Cecil and Mary were members of noted Catholic families.

Entering the Foreign Office in 1905, at 22, and with diplomatic postings
around the world – Cecil’s life story reads like a Boy’s Own adventure
complete with the tag line ‘always just one step ahead of danger’ -
because it could be said that trouble tended to follow Cecil everywhere he
went. It was certainly a life filled with dangerous exploits, risk, excitement
and intrigue, sprinkled with an occasional dash of humour.

He went to Japan as counsellor to the Embassy at a time when the Pacific

had a barely a ripple on it. Then Japan started on its imperial adventures
which resulted in upheaval in the Orient.

The same sort of thing happened when he went from Tokyo to then Siam,
now Thailand. The country hadn’t had a revolution for about 150 years,
but in the course of three years Cecil saw three revolutions and a civil
war.

Then he went to Oslo, Norway, a country with little prospect of any

disturbances – and five years later all hell broke out in the form of the
Second World War.
Cecil became a highly skilled diplomat diplomatic. His postings included:
Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary in 1915.
Chargé d'Affaires to Caracas between 1919 and 1921.
First Secretary of the Legation to the Holy See between 1921 and 1926.
Counsellor to Tokyo between 1926 and 1930.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bangkok between
1930 and 1934.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Oslo between 1934
and 1941.
Ambassador to the Polish Government in Exile in 1941.

Cecil was also highly decorated with awards including:

The award of Grand Cross, Order of St. Olav of Norway.
The award of Norwegian War Medal.
The award of Order of the White Eagle of Serbia.
Invested as a Member, Royal Victorian Order (M.V.O.).
Invested as a Knight Commander, Order of St. Michael and St. George
(K.C.M.G.).

The ‘trusty’ Cecil (as reported by Time magazine) also accepted the 1933
Peace Prize on behalf of Pacifist-Lecturer Sir Norman Angell.

Mary was 27 years old and Cecil was 32 when they married. Considering
Cecil and Mary were both one of ten children from devout Catholic
families, it would not be unreasonable, or even presumptuous to expect
that they would have children, if not a big family.

However, though they had a long and what appears to be a happy

marriage, Mary dying when she was 84 and Cecil when he was 96, they
had no children.

Cecil’s story is an interesting one and at times quite exciting. He rubbed

shoulders and kissed the hands of Kings, senior politicians, and
government officials, and travelled extensively. He lived precariously, at
times missing death by inches.

I have endeavoured to cover illuminating aspects of history that not only

was being played out around Cecil, but of which he was very much a part.
I have also imbued his story with reported anecdotes of humour and
drama, particularly during his time in Norway during World War II, to show
both Cecil’s human frailties and strengths. There is little doubt that he
was quite a courageous man carrying out his diplomatic duties, somewhat
nonchalantly, in the thick of enemy fire!

Cecil’s early life

As mentioned early biographical details of Cecil are particularly sketchy.

Records can be found that show his birth in Kensington, Greater London,
Middlesex, and it appears that he, along with one of his brothers, Robert
Stanhope, was educated at St Augustine’s Abbey Ramsgate, one of four
Benedictine monasteries in Great Britain, which provide a Catholic
education for boys.

Ramsgate, one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century, is o
n the Isle of Thanet in east Kent, England. Queen Victoria lived there as a
young princess. Interestingly, with Cecil’s diplomatic involvement in WW2,
it was Ramsgate where evacuated troops from Dunkirk landed in 1940.
Caves in the cliffs around the seaside town provided bombproof shelters
during the war.

His first job with the Foreign Office

One of Cecil’s first jobs was with the Foreign Office. In the Who’s Who
Year Book of 1908, where his father, Hubert Francis Dormer, was listed as
late of the Admiralty, Cecil was listed as a clerk in the Foreign Office. He
would have been 25 years of age at the time. It must be presumed that
he worked his way up to the role of Assistant Private Secretary to the
Foreign Secretary over 7 years.

He certainly appeared to enjoy a full social life. He was reported in The

Times as attending The Kings Levee at St James Palace in 1907, a society
Ball at the Hyde Park Hotel in 1908, and a number of social parties at
Cowes in 1913.

His impending marriage was announced twice in The Times, on Jan 21

1915 and February 17 1915. His marriage service was reported in The
Times of Friday 26 February 1915:

The marriage of Mr Cecil Dormer of the Foreign Office, youngest

son of the late Honourable Hubert Dormer and the Honourable
Mrs Dormer, to Lady Mary Fielding, eldest daughter of the Earl
and Countess of Denbigh, took place quietly yesterday at
Newnham Paddox. Father Thurston officiated, assisted by Father
Van Dillen. The bride was given away by her father and Mr Robert
Dormer, Scots Guards, acted as best man to his brother.

___________________________________________________________________________

An aside of interest

Cecil’s father, Hubert, is alluded to in an autobiography called “The Ups

and Downs of a Wandering Life” by Walter Seymour which was published
in 1910. Walter talks of staying a night in the quiet little village of
Shanklin with his friend Hubert Dormer of the Admiralty, when they both
did a walk around the Isle of Wight.

Interestingly the same author offers us an insight into public offices, in

which both Hubert and his son Cecil were employed, and how society
recognised them. Though this was written 5 years before Cecil began his
long term role in the Foreign Office it is unlikely that perceptions would
have changed in that time.

He explains that among the public offices there was a curious gradation of
social prestige among the members perceived by society. The Foreign
Office, where Cecil was employed, was considered the smartest; the
Treasury was respected and offered many opportunities; the Admiralty at
Whitehall (where Cecil’s father was employed) and the Colonial Office
ranked about the same, but there were appointments going in the
Colonial Office, while the Admiralty had none.
_________________________________________________________________________

Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary 1915 -1919

Cecil was 32 years of age when he held this first diplomatic role - the
prestigious and important position of Assistant Private Secretary to the
Foreign Secretary in His Majesty’s government. As Assistant Private
Secretary he supported the Foreign Secretary who was responsible for
relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the British
Commonwealth and the Crown colonies, and the promotion of British
interests abroad.

Cecil reported to Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon who was
Foreign Secretary from December 1905 to 10 December 1916.

At this time the Foreign Office was undertaking special work at the Home
Office in connection with war activities.

His appointment was reported in The Times on Monday October 18 1915,

by Sir Edward Grey.

Prior to 1968 the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office, were
separate entities, not merged as they are today. The head of Foreign
Affairs was the Secretary of State, and presumably then, like today, the
position would have been regarded as one of the three most prestigious
appointments in the Cabinet, alongside those of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer and Home Secretary. Together with the Prime Minister, these
comprise the Great offices of State. (See chart at end)
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor

At this time George V, the first British monarch of the House of Windsor
was on the throne; and David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of
Dwyfor was the Liberal Prime Minister.

Cecil’s role in World War 1 diplomatic relations

In the summer of 1914, Grey, to whom Cecil reported, played a key role in
a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe that led to the First
World War. The crisis was triggered by the assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo Bosnia,
by Gavrilo Princip a Yugoslav nationalist. A series of diplomatic
manoeuvrings followed, which led to an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary
to Serbia; and ultimately war between them leading to the outbreak of
World War 1.

Unfortunately, history records Grey’s attempt to mediate the dispute as a

failure.

He was criticised for being somewhat obscure in his administration of

British foreign policy and not particularly good at communicating. He saw
the defence of France against German aggression as a key policy
component, consequently entering into an agreement with France and
Russia, each guaranteeing to come to the aid of the others in the event of
war. Unfortunately much of Grey's diplomacy was conducted behind
closed doors, and was not made sufficiently public as to act as a deterrent
to German policy.
It is argued that had Grey declared early support for France, Germany
would have convinced Austria-Hungary to settle with Serbia rather than
declare war. Similarly, if Britain had made clear that she would remain
neutral in the event of war, France (and possibly Russia) would have
attempted to seek a resolution.

In any event, once Germany declared war against France on 3 August and
invaded neutral Belgium the following day, Britain entered the war against
Germany, Grey citing an 'obligation of honour' to France and Belgium - the
latter through a 19th century treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality.

The nature of Grey's diplomacy led to dispute within his own party, and
within the opposition Labour Party. His Balkan policy was blamed for
antagonising Turkey and Bulgaria, and for complicating relations with
Greece and Romania, leading to his exclusion from Prime Minister
Asquith's Inner War Cabinet in November 1915.

The view held by Grey, and those who were working with him in the
Foreign Office, so presumably this includes Cecil, was that throughout the
critical days at the end of July and the beginning of August they had done
everything in their power to avert the outbreak of war; they believed that
this had also been the desire of their Allies France and Russia.

Grey himself was shocked by the turn of events, issuing his famous
warning, "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them
lit again in our lifetime."

Cecil, as Assistant Private Secretary to Edward Grey, would have been

involved in and privy to the tense decision making, the questionable
international diplomatic communications, and aware of the criticisms Grey
received in his handling of the international diplomatic situation.

It is to be imagined that this early experience in his diplomatic

career would have been a massive learning curve for Cecil and he
would have learnt much in how to handle, or not handle,
international diplomatic communications.

Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign

Affairs

Cecil’s appointment was announced by The Right Honourable AJ Balfour

MP Secretary of State and published in The Times on Thursday December
21 1915.

Cecil and the Balfour Declaration of 1917

Aaron to INSERT PHOTO this is a PDF document which Tony has.

Cecil was Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour,
when he drafted the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a sign of “sympathy with
Jewish Zionist aspirations”, which reflected the position of the British
Cabinet. This declaration was a formal statement of policy by the British
government stating that:

"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in

Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their
best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being
clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice
the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any
other country."

The declaration promised the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish

people in Palestine that would not disturb the non-Jewish groups already
residing there. The British anticipated gaining a mandate over Palestine
after World War I and hoped to win over Jewish public opinion to the side
of the Allies. They also hoped that pro-British settlers would help protect
the approaches to the Suez Canal, a vital link to Britain's South Asian
possessions.

Growing Arab resentment and violence led to the abrogation of the

declaration by Neville Chamberlain's government in 1939.

British Chargé d'Affaires to Caracas, Venezuela between 1919 and

1921.

During the time of Cecil’s posting to Caracas, Venezuela was experiencing

a boom in oil development.

The President, Juan Vicente Gómez, had been given total power to make
any concessions necessary to encourage oil companies to come to
Venezuela, and pre-war he had granted several incredibly low tax rate
concessions to British companies to explore, produce and refine oil. This
meant that the British companies had virtual control of all the petrol
production. One British company in particular, CDC, had received massive
concessions.

Following the war, international awareness of the magnitude of

Venezuela's oil reserves increased. American oil companies in particular,
were interested in getting a foothold in the country, and were pushing for
the annulment of CDC’s contract. The Government requested that CDC
either increase production or relinquish its massive concession to allow
other companies entry.
CDC showed little interest in complying - either by reducing their
monopoly or increasing their production – and the Development Minister
Gumersindo Torres threatened to take them to court.

It was at this stage that Cecil entered the picture and though he had no
diplomatic experience in Latin America before this appointment, his
diplomatic skill was really tested.

Newly arrived in Venezuela, Cecil had spent a week in early September

1919 as General Gomez’s guest in Maracay, the provincial city in which
Gomez had lived since 1911. Cecil returned to Caracas enthused and he
believed enlightened, for now he felt he had a clearer understanding of
Gomez and the other men who led the regime. In particular he believed
he now comprehended Gomez’s attitude toward foreign investment. He
reported to his Embassy:

“I have all along wondered what was really the attitude of the powers that
be here towards foreigners, and I think I now understand it. They do not
dislike foreigners or foreign concessions in the way that people seem to
do in China or in Persia. Here odd as it may sound, they are intensely
patriotic..... They frankly acknowledge that they are powerless at present
to develop the country unaided and to that end they welcome foreign
assistance and foreign capital. But they long for the day when they can
do things themselves. One cannot blame them for this, but it shows how
careful we must be not to take up big schemes with our eyes
blindfolded.... I will only say now that the big stick will never avail us
anything. Tact and friendliness can get us anything, but official notes
nothing.”

Cecil believed the Venezuelan Government, although showing a

willingness to reach a solution with the CDC, was backed by some of the
concession hunters, especially Exxon, who were flocking to the country.
Nevertheless, Cecil did sympathise with the Government’s view that the
’concession in question is unduly large and is a hindrance to
development.’

The situation faced an impasse. The Foreign Office was seriously

concerned about the effect of continuing litigation and the threat of
increased taxes would have on British companies interested in further
investing.

They sent Cecil a telegram on the 18 May indicating that he should take
“all possible action to prevent any reductions in areas for which
concessions had been obtained.”

Cecil was sure that Gomez did not want to alienate British capital in
Venezuela and was convinced that once this was made clear to Gomez
the whole debacle would be quickly wound up. He therefore wrote in
strong terms to the Development Minister stating that “the British
Government does not recognise any reduction in the area of the
concessions acquired by legal contract between the Government of
Venezuela and British companies, unless such a reduction is freely agreed
to by both parties.” Further “ Any measure which weakened British
interests would be at complete variance with the assurances received by
General Gomez, and the Provincial President, that such interests would be
protected, thus encouraging further British capital to these lands.’ He
ended up by saying that he had written this note because he was
convinced “that the Government is unaware of the potential danger of
adopting such an attitude and policy, and feel that by addressing Your
Excellency in this friendly manner, you will take into account my reasons
for preventing a possible disagreement between our two countries.” His
letter was passed on to Gomez within two days.

Prospects for an amicable arrangement improved and on Feb 12 1921 a

settlement was finally reached whereby CDC would retain its full
concession. On 16 February 1921 the Cabinet ratified this settlement.

With Cecil’s intervention, the British were successful in repelling

the American threat to their dominance in the oil fields of
Venezuela during this period.

First Secretary of the Legation to the Holy See between 1921 and
1926

A little background......

The Holy See is the pre-eminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church,
forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically,
and in other spheres, the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic
Church. The state's foreign relations are entrusted to the Holy See's
Secretariat of State and diplomatic service.

It is also recognised by other subjects of international law as a sovereign

entity, headed by the Pope, with which diplomatic relations can be
maintained.

Traditionally the Holy See has always had a highly respected diplomatic
corps with sharp eyes and ears in many countries, and far closer to the
ground than any ordinary diplomatic corps ever gets, through its network
of bishops in each region and clergy in each locality. The Holy See knows
what is going on in the world at governmental and grass roots level, has
extraordinary access at the highest political level in most Catholic
countries, and knows who’s who in the world’s faith communities. It is
also a respected global opinion former and it has the ability to help shape
and influence issues of direct relevance to UK interests on every
continent.

Cecil’s role

The Times on Saturday April 30 1921 published “Mr Cecil Dormer will
leave London on May 6 with Lady Mary Dormer to take up his official
duties with the British Mission at the Vatican.”

Following the First World War the UK diplomatic post was maintained in
the Holy See both for the perceived value of its prestige, and to keep a
watchful eye on the conflicts in Ireland, Malta, Quebec, and Australia, all
of which had Catholic dimensions.

During Cecil’s posting the Embassy was watching Ireland very closely. The
revolutionary period with unrest, turbulence and even bloodshed had
begun with a rebellion in 1916, the unilateral establishment of a separatist
regime in 1919, and the Irish War of Independence.

It was while Cecil was First Secretary of the Legation to the Holy See, that
Ireland, on 6 December 1922, became a dominion in the British
Commonwealth called the Irish Free State.

The Times also reported that Mr Cecil Dormer, First Secretary of the
British Legation to the Holy See presented the boys of the Young Australia
League to the Pope.

However, if life was reasonably quiet during Cecil’s time in Rome it was
anything but in Cecil’s next posting.

Counsellor to Tokyo between 1926 and 1930.

During Cecil’s posting in Japan, the country’s relations with Britain were
becomingly increasingly strained and it would probably be fair to say that
Japan became more and more difficult to deal with diplomatically.

Japan was becoming more nationalistic and strongly focused on imperial

regional expansion, with China as their main target. Britain owned a
number of concessions in Japan and China and its presence was perceived
negatively as “foreign interference”. When Britain, who had substantial
political and economic interests in China, ‘collided’ with Japan, anti- British
sentiments were rife.

Mr. Engene Chen, the Foreign Minister in the Kuomintang Government,

was anti- British. He wanted the unification of Japan and this could only
happen if the British got out of, or were removed from the country.
It wasn’t just a war of words. Fighting was spasmodically being waged
between North and South Japan, but in early 1927 it heated up with a
serious encounter in China between Chinese and British forces. A Chinese
mob tore through Hankow, a British concession, which was unsuccessfully
defended by a totally inadequate British marine force.
Chen undertook to call the mob off and protect the British residents, so
long as they made no attempt to protect themselves. There was nothing
for it but for the British to accept the offer, and the surrender of the
concession logically followed, with the Chen-O'Malley Agreement on
February 19.

Japan was anxious to see the re-establishment of order and security in

China, which they saw as necessary for the future commercial interest of
Japan. Britain was forced to defend their concession in Shanghai, China,
and a similar incident to Hankow occurred; fighting resulted in a small loss
of British life. The British government, tired of the Chinese boycott
against British goods and hopeful of wooing the Chinese from Soviet
influence, returned the concessions at Hankow and Jiujiang to the
Nationalist government.

Further tensions arose when in 1927 the Three Power Geneva Naval
Conference was held. After World War I, many nations became
concerned about the threat of another war and the possibility of an arms
race. The Three Power Geneva Naval Conference was to address these
issues in the naval arena. This was a gathering of the United States,
Great Britain and Japan, to discuss making joint limitations to their naval
capacities. The conference was a failure -- the parties did not reach
agreement and the naval arms race continued unabated after the
conference.

No records, apart from the interesting anecdote following, can be found

on Cecil’s role in Tokyo during this period. However it would not be
unreasonable to assume that problems which arose around Japan’s
imperialistic objectives in the Pacific region would have been of vital
interest to Britain, and that Cecil would have been expected to play an
important diplomatic role in the development and strengthening of
peaceful relationships between Japan and Britain.

Balancing diplomatic, political and commercial relations in the

troubled Pacific region, would have been quite difficult and would
have required and inordinate amount of skill and tact from Cecil.

The only piece of research I could unearth on Cecil during this time was
rather amusing – though perhaps not at the time! Following a dinner given
by the Japan British Society to Prince Chichibu in around 1927, a
photograph appeared in the papers that appeared to show Cecil, the then
Counsellor of the British Embassy, proposing the Prince's health with what
appeared to be one of his hands in his pocket. As a result, a number of
threatening letters were received by him from the Black Dragon Society
and other reactionary organisations demanding an apology for his "insult"
to the Prince!
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bangkok
between 1930 and 1934.

On April 30 1930 Cecil had an audience with the King at Buckingham

Palace on his appointment as His Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary in Bangkok. The Times published an
announcement that Mr Cecil Dormer left London on 13 June 1930 for the
British Legation, Bangkok, Siam. Lady Dormer’s address was noted as the
Ladies Coulton Club, Grosvenor Place, where she would reside until
October when she joined her husband.

What was Cecil facing on this post?

Thailand had become the object of rivalry between Great Britain, the chief
defender of the status quo, and an expansive Japan in the 1930s.

Siam gave first priority to the maintenance of friendly relations with the
British, its most powerful neighbour (in India), an approach that had both
economic and political consequences. In the economic realm, British
companies gained forestry and mining concessions and came to dominate
Siam’s foreign trade. Siam became a vital rice bowl for British Malaya, an
area increasingly dependent on food imports, as large numbers of Chinese
and Indian labourers migrated there to work in the tin mines and rubber
plantations.

Politically, influential British ministers ensured that their countrymen filled

most slots in Siam’s corps of well-paid foreign advisors. Most Thai princes
went to England for their education, including the last two absolute
monarchs, as well as many ministers and other high-ranking officials.

Two coups, the second and successful one in 1932, brought an end to
absolute monarchy and the introduction of a constitution. This posed a
challenge to the British position in the decade leading up to World War II.
Their main objective was to build a relationship and policy that would allay
the suspicions of the Promoters, a party trying to bring change to Siam.

On a personal note

Whilst living in Bangkok, Cecil and Mary lived the life of a quiet country
couple. In the cool of the afternoon Mary could be seen tending her flower
beds, whilst Cecil fished from an old boat in a pond in the diplomatic
residence’s garden. In the evenings they would read or Cecil would work
out chess problems.
The Dormers made no parade of their piety but they were always seen at
8 o’clock Mass in Assumption Cathedral on Sunday morning, and on many
week mornings in the private chapel of a convent near the diplomatic
residence.

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Oslo between

1934 and 1941.

On May 17 1934 Cecil was received by the King at Buckingham Palace on

his appointment as HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
to Oslo. In a further ceremony in June he was introduced by the Marshal
of the Diplomatic Corps and named to his Majesty by the Lord
Chamberlain at a Levee at St James Palace. And on June 5 he was
received by the Prince of Wales.

However If life was reasonably quiet during Cecil’s time in Bangkok it was
anything but in this posting.

This part of history, and Cecil’s involvement in it, is worth telling

in much more detail - even if the detail is a little superficial ,
because it is a story that sometimes pans out as a drama,
sometimes a massive tragedy, while other times it becomes quite
farcical . And Cecil sat fairly and squarely in the middle of
everything that was going on. He had to repeatedly call on his
skills of tact and secrecy, not to mention courage and
determination, and his strong oratorical and diplomatic skills, to
avert disaster after disaster...... and survive!

It begins with understanding the need the United Kingdom had for Norway
as an ally. As a nation with an overseas empire, the United Kingdom was
highly dependent on imported goods. Britain required more than a million
tons of imported material per week in order to be able to survive and
fight. Norway had long-standing and strong ties with Great Britain, both
politically and economically, but it was clear that the British had vital
strategic interests linked to Norway and wanted dominance of the North
Sea. Both Britain and Germany had a strategic interest in denying the
other access to Norway. This was often referred to by the press as “the
shipping problem”.

During the early 1930s Cecil played a pivotal role in diplomatically

negotiating favorable Norwegian-British tonnage and trade agreement
treaties. He was praised by Mr Anthony Eden, the Lord Privy Seal, for the
satisfactory improvement in British Norwegian trade over this period. He
was responsible for negotiating towards a future that would offer “new
and better conditions in commercial relations than those the world
suffered under today and also new and better international policy in the
interests of peace.’ This was October 1934, less than five years before
World War II broke out.

Yet though Norway had a unique strategic geographical importance,

amazingly on many maps, including those of Britain, France and Germany,
it remained either nameless or its borders and capital were out of date. In
fact, in 1940 Britain’s Foreign Secretary was still mistaking the Norwegian
border for a railway line!

Norway was to all intents a peaceful, sleepy little kingdom intent on

pursuing a doctrine of neutrality, and therefore not involved in the
evolving war that was being played out all over Europe in the late 1930s.
Considering its geographical location this could either be considered as a
head in the sand attitude or naivety at its grandest.

Living the war experience

However, this was all about to change dramatically. Shortly before 11.30
pm on 8 April 1940 two Norwegian coastguards reported five large ships
sailing up the fjord. Two hours later these were recognised as German
warships. The Minister of Supply, Trygve Li, proposed that an official call
for help be made to the Cecil, the British Minister. The first attempt was
fruitless – Sir Cecil was fast asleep and couldn’t be woken - whereupon
Prime Minister Nygaardsvold lost his temper. The Foreign Minister finally
managed to get in touch with Cecil and advise him that Norway was now
at war! When King Haakon was also informed shortly afterwards that
Norway was at war, he asked “Against whom?”

An immediate mobilisation was ordered but the administrative machinery

immediately faltered: for one thing the ministers of the Norwegian
government knew nothing about the mechanism of mobilisation and they
left the matter entirely to the Minister of Defence. Unfortunately he had
only been in this position for barely 3 months and he was just as
incompetent as his government colleagues.

The army Commander in Chief, General Laake obstinately refused to take

the alert seriously and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he was
finally convinced to leave his country home and return to Oslo.

He then called the Minister of Defence and advised him to mobilise the 4
brigades stationed in southern Norway, something the general staff had
been recommending since 5 April. This late in the day however this
command was meaningless – this was known as ‘partial and secret
mobilisation’ and according to military code could only be implemented by
calling on soldiers through the mail to assemble 48 hours later! The
General could still not bring himself to believe that anything serious was
happening. At general staff headquarters the order for partial and secret
mobilisation was greeted with incredulity but the Chief of Staff was
adamant – the command had come after all from the Government! The
General was even further removed from reality. He told his startled
officers that a little exercise should do these units well!

Seven major government meetings and a Government Council were held

over less than 30 hours. Cecil played a pivotal role in communication
between Britain and Norway, remaining in touch with London by means of
a wireless transmitter carried by members of the British legation. The Air
Force Chief of Staff advised him to communicate to Great Britain urgently
that Norway were totally unprepared for war and they needed immediate
and powerful help from Great Britain to save the situation.

Cecil was able to give the Norwegian Foreign Office encouraging news -
The Foreign Office in London promised full aid would be extended to
Norway and that Britain would fight in full association with them.

Koht, the Norwegian Foreign minister relayed this to the Government but
when the Prime Minister displayed doubt that help would arrive anytime
soon, Koht admitted that Cecil had told him in confidence that “as soon as
possible” did not mean “without delay”, or “on the dot”. Only that they
would do their best.

The fact that England was unable to dispatch assistance immediately was
not received well, and the Prime Minister was in favour of trying to
negotiate with the German minister conditions whereby Norway would be
allowed to keep on exercising her sovereignty. In hindsight such
negotiations would have been useless at this stage – Norway had already
lost control of four of their largest cities to the German invaders.

The situation worsened considerably later that day when German forces
were reported quite close, intent on capturing the Storting, the Norwegian
Parliament. Facism was on their doorstep.

The Duty Officer at the War Cabinet Office, in the very early hours of 9
April, rang General Ismay, secretary to Chief of Staff Committee and
garbled a message incoherently. He seemed distraught and repeated
what he was saying but he couldn’t be understood. He was told to draw
the blackout curtains, find his false teeth and say it all over again. This
did the trick! What he’d been saying was brutal in its simplicity. The
Germans had seized Copenhagen and all the main ports of Norway!

A special train for Elverum was arranged to depart hurriedly and the royal
party and ministers hurriedly made their way to the railway station. Cecil
and his wife had barely time to dress warmly and pack a suitcase before
driving away hurriedly in a Humber. They fled Oslo just a few hours ahead
of the Germans. The first night they motored all night from 5 pm till 7 am
with only hurried stopover for supper at 10 pm. It was snowing hard and
roads were deeply covered in snow. Whilst leaving Otta they saw a plane
drop four bombs only about a mile off, and they passed through towns
being bombed.
They bedded down for a few hours sleep wherever they could find food
and a roof over their head. One of their main concerns was that Cecil
would be able to keep in touch with the Norwegian government. When
they spent 3 days just over the border in Sweden they were filmed by
American Movietone newsreel cameras.

Interestingly, in a hastily typed letter to the family sent by Mary on April

20 1940, in which she says Cecil has told her she has a chance to send
one letter to family, she calls herself and Cecil “hardened campaigners
who have learnt to become perfect refugees, and get off very quickly at
any time.” Amazingly, even though they have the Germans continually
snapping at their heels, the letter’s tone is chatty, and Mary says though
anxious, everyone is in good spirits. She talks about them having to
hastily purchase various and odd looking clothes to keep warm against
the harsh, cold conditions and supplement their hastily packed suitcase –
corduroy knickerbockers for Cecil and skiing trousers for herself.

Their fugitive party increases with the inclusion of a naval attaché’s wife
whose husband has gone to Stockholm and hopes to join them later, a
first and second Secretary, an attaché and two chauffeurs. “Others blow in
and out all the time”, hence the need to hire an extra car.

During their time on the run Mary talks of a new found value for many
simple things, like a piece of string picked up when none could be found in
shops. How their washing got done in one place, and rolled in a piece of
waterproof sheet if a “flit is sudden”, and then dried and ironed as, and
when, they could later. Mary and the naval attaché’s wife were
responsible for this, and for keeping the party’s clothes mended.

Mary also talks of keeping a constant vigil for planes overhead as they
had heard that the Germans had orders to fire at anything. Whilst driving
at all times one of the party was responsible for keeping watch for planes
through the front window of the car and Mary was responsible for keeping
watch out the back window. Often they had to jump out of the car very
quickly, scatter and flatten themselves in the thick snow, under a tree if
possible, when bombs were sighted. Bombing was usually from dawn to
dusk but one surprised them around 12.30 am on one occasion and it was
very close.

Though their party saw bombs being dropped and towns burning they
suffered no casualties. But she does say that narrow escapes were
plentiful. The French Minister travelling with their party had an incendiary
bomb go off beside his car, and their own chauffeur narrowly escaped
machine gun fire. Cecil and Mary themselves narrowly missed direct hits
a number of times whilst taking refuge in air raid shelters in Molde.

Mary also mentions that they heard the plane and saw the smoking
remains of where the King and Government had been hiding (they
escaped) and luckily where Cecil had been, only shortly before, in a
meeting with the King. “Now we hope the British troops can rout the
dastardly Huns and that we can soon see this country free of them,” she
wrote.

They bedded down where and when they could. They spent three nights
in a doctor’s house about 10 miles outside of Molde, and from there Cecil
was able to meet with Norwegian government officials, though during this
time he found himself often sheltering in air raid shelters.

Cecil and Mary were able to go to mass in a convent hospital run by Dutch
nuns just outside Molde. While they were taking communion, ironically
given by a German priest born in Cologne, bombing started. They were
forced to flee to the underground cellar for some time and then another
hour and a half in an air raid shelter in the town, eventually escaping
between raids.

Molde was burning badly on the evening of April 28 when they learnt that
a cruiser would pick them up the next day. Their evacuation was quite
dramatic, having to take to ditches twice on their way to the quay and
passing churches and houses burning. At the quay the cruiser’s hoses
were playing on the surrounding fire and Cecil and Mary passed under jets
of streaming water, smoke and steam to get to the ship. Mary describes
going into Molde to board their ship and seeing British planes being shot
down and destroyed over the area “it was too sad...they had not a
chance.” Just before they left at midnight a plane came over them
dropping a bomb very narrowly missing them and machine gunfire
followed.

They called that their “last real narrow shave and narrow enough”!! They
travelled on stand by, and their journey home to Britain was not direct,
but they “had an excellent journey and several nights sleep” even if they
did have to sleep fully dressed with some of their party sleeping on the
floor. But by now they “were accustomed to the life of refugees.”

Mary also mentions that “Cecil was of course often tired, as he had not
only the drama playing out around him but also responsibilities as the
British ambassador.”

She also talks of the great kindness they met everywhere they went and
they were actually sad to leave Norway.

On their return to London, Mary stayed but Cecil remained only a few days
and then returned to Norway to continue his diplomatic role. She also
mentions that “Cecil expects to retire now.”

Cecil also managed to hurriedly write a short letter to his sister at the
same time. This letter starts off with the astounding words, “It has all
been an exciting adventure (!!) and though our hours of rest have been
erratic we feel much better than during past weeks when we were tied to
the office stove and unable to get out.” Cecil also describes their motley
clothes and tells his sister that she “would laugh if she saw their
costumes.” He tells her that Ludlow, their butler, managed to throw a few
of Cecil’s medals into his own handgrip, filling up precious space, because
he was determined the Germans would not get them. “They are not much
use to me so far, “Cecil writes. He also mentions sending some of the
party onto Sweden as it was not necessary to keep them with his party –
and he believes this gave rise to the inaccurate report that the British
legation had gone to Stockholm.

He also says “Mary is flourishing and thrives on the racket.” Comfortingly

he advises his sister May that “We have the wife of the naval attaché and
four French ministers to keep us company and are a merry party so don’t
worry about us.”

Even though in great personal danger, Cecil managed to rejoin the

Norwegian government near the Swedish border on April 12 and sent an
urgent telegram to the Foreign Office. In this he advised that that the
Norwegian government definitely didn’t feel capable of coping with the
situation if British support was confined to naval operation only. He urged
that military assistance was a necessity.

Yet on Apr 14, 1940 Cecil was reported in the NY Times as saying "The
Norwegians are showing wonderful grit and determination," and on Apr
15, 1940 - "The Norwegians are putting up a jolly fine fight.”I have
enormous admiration for what they have done and the fullest confidence
of seeing Germany turned out in the very near future."

The UK Daily Mirror newspaper of Wednesday April 1940 shows a photo of

a well rugged Sir Cecil Dormer, British Minister in Norway, preparing to
leave Elverum with his wife after German raids, with the headline
‘Bombed – but Safe’.

Twenty days later

Picture this...

On a snowy night, April 29 1940, at the wooden quayside of Molde on

Norway’s west coast, the night sky was red from the flames of a village
ablaze from intense German bombardment. The wooden buildings,
boathouses and small farms of this picturesque country burned as the
terrified residents fled from the Romsdal fjord to the mountains. Fires
burned all around silhouetting snow-capped mountains in the glow.
King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav, Cabinet Ministers and a few foreign
diplomats including Cecil, were trying with great difficulty to reach the
British cruiser HMS Glasgow, which had been sent to their aid by special
order of George VI.

Already on board HMS Glasgow was a special cargo of fifty tons of

Norway’s gold reserves, bars and coins rescued from the vaults of the
Norges Bank in Oslo twenty days earlier. It was a massive task. 818 large
crates weighing up to 40kg, 685 smaller wooden boxes and 39 others
containers with fifty tons of gold bars, ten tons of gold coins, and one and
a half million coins and notes had been hastily transported by
wheelbarrows into 26 trucks. Some trucks had to bear loads totalling over
500kg, a real effort on slushy, icy gravel roads. Its transport demanded
skilful ad hoc planning, intrigue and secrecy and Cecil had been part of
this elaborate planning exercise.

The gold had first arrived in Lillehammer, and with Germans already in the
town secret plans were completed to move the treasure north along the
single track Rauma railway. Snow drifts had to be cleared by Norwegian
runners sent ahead. German paratroopers were everywhere and there
were major clashes along the route. As German bombs destroyed the
pretty seaside town of Andalsnes, and while the Government Ministers,
including Cecil were looking for a safe haven for the Royal party to hide,
negotiations were also being organised hurriedly for the evacuation of the
gold to Scotland.

On April 25 the Cabinet, King and Crown Prince and later the Prime
minister, the foreign minister and Cecil managed to come together to
discuss how to bring this exodus to a safe conclusion. Everyone was
incredibly tired – there had been very little opportunity for sleep for
weeks.

On the evening of April 29 the royal party finally boarded the Glasgow in
great danger since the quay was ablaze and headed for Tromso in the far
north, travelling along some of the most beautiful but also most
dangerous waters in the world. Once the Germans were aware that the
Government, royalty and the gold were on the move, bombers pursued
them relentlessly.

King Haakon, the Norwegian government and Cecil, escaped first to

Scotland and then to London, where the King was to support the fight
through inspirational radio speeches to his countrymen for the rest of the
war.

The Norwegians were profoundly grateful for Britain’s aid, and in

recognition each winter gave a Christmas tree to be erected in Trafalgar
Square, just metres from where the Norwegian Government–in-exile had
resided for five years in great secrecy.
Cecil’s prowess as a foreign diplomat under intense wartime
pressure

Cecil’s role in this saga was enormous and his diplomatic skills were really
put to the test. He was physically in the thick of the wartime fighting, not
simply sitting at a desk formulating plans and making decisions. He
personally orchestrated the plans for the royal evacuation, ensuring that
the King, his son and his government officials, did not fall into German
hands; and he was involved in determining the strategy for protecting the
country’s gold from the invading Germans.

Getting the king and government to evacuate the country was not an easy
task, but Cecil later reported that his task at one stage was made
considerably easier when he got help from an unexpected quarter – a
Heinkel dropped a bomb just missing the party! Even as the group sped
through Molde heading for the port, a German plane dropped an
incendiary bomb that fell right behind the royal car – “well intended, but
the execution seem to be lagging behind,” the king said dryly.

Cecil was able to exercise considerable influence on the Norwegian King

and his government and strategic debate and decision-making in London.
He employed considerable diplomatic skill in wartime strategic planning
and communicating to and fro with the Norwegian King and his
government officials, and the British home office and the War Office. All
the while he was constantly moving, hiding and conferring under a deluge
of bombs and the threat of death.

Cecil also had to work against the background problems of physical

isolation, lack of communication (the telephone wasn’t working); personal
quarrels and disagreements within the Norwegian government and a
marked incompatibility of temper between a number of his main
collaborators within the makeshift Norwegian foreign ministry. Added to
this Cecil was working with a Prime Minister who was visibly bowing under
severe signs of nervous strain, a King who seemed to treat danger with
sovereign contempt and a Foreign Minister who would show strange
courage, strolling through the smoking bombardments holding the firm
conviction that he was invulnerable by virtue of international public law!

Yet he called this an adventure!!!

Cecil not only got out of the country with his life he also did a
sterling job as British Minister, in face of great adversity.

And Cecil didn’t always face a war using ammunition....... sometimes it

was a war of words!
This is a press clipping that appeared in The Times newspaper of 1936.

An Italian Trophy
The Fugitive Mr Dormer
From our own correspondent
Rome April 2

An amazing illustration of the errors into which the Italian Press

is led nowadays by its blind attacks upon Great Britain has been
furnished by the picking up in Abyssinia of a visiting card in an
otherwise empty pocket- book bearing the name of Cecil F
dormer, described in attendance on Dedjasmatch Kassa of
Ethopia.

On the strength of this discovery the Tribuna last night printed a

special article about a “certain Dormer flying at full speed before
the advance of the Italian troops and in his haste losing his kit
with the incriminating ‘very elegant Bristol’.”
The writer went on:
Even the most modest Englishman will agree with us that the
fugitive Mr Dormer does not cut a good figure in the service of a
barbarian man of colour. Did his very humble services merit the
luxury of the Bristol visiting card? But it is not necessary to be
cruel. It is evident that the poor Mr Dormer has been driven to
Africa by urgent personal needs. Only his pocket-book has
remained empty. So far as we are directly concerned we take
note of this other English visiting card left in Abyssinia as a token
of the material and moral solidarity of the subjects of His
Britannic Majesty with the slave–owning hordes of the Negus.

Editor’s note
It may perhaps interest the writer in the Tribuna to know that the
‘certain Mr Dormer” has since 1934 been the British Minister in
Oslo, and that his visiting card dates back to 1911, when, as an
acting second secretary in the Diplomatic Service, he was
attached to Dedjasmatch Kassa on the occasion of that chieftain
coming to London for the coronation of King George V.

However retirement as mentioned in Mary’s letter to the family

was a little way off yet.

Ambassador to the Polish Government in Exile in 1941.

In the spring of 1941 Cecil was appointed Ambassador of the Polish

Government in Exile in London.

What diplomatic issues would he have spent his final working year on?

The Polish government in exile was recognised by all the Allied governments.
Politically, it was a coalition of the Polish Peasant Party, the Polish Socialist Party,
the Labour Party and the National Democratic Party, although these parties
maintained only a vestigial existence in the circumstances of exile. During 1941
it was facing a difficult task in attempting to re-establish the Polish state, and a
number of initiatives were designed to strengthen its diplomatic standing.
Wladyslaw Sikorski was the Prime Minister of the Polish Government in
Exile.

When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, the Polish government
in exile established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union despite
Stalin's role in the earlier dismemberment of Poland. Hundreds of
thousands of Polish soldiers who had been taken prisoner by the Soviets in
eastern Poland in 1939, and many civilian Polish prisoners and deportees,
were released and allowed to form military units ("Anders' Army"); they
were evacuated to Iran and the Middle East where they were desperately
needed by the British hard pressed by Rommel's Afrika Korps.

The Polish government-in-exile in London played an important role in

exposing Nazi atrocities. Through the press and diplomatic channels, it
tried constantly to inform the international community and Allied and
neutral governments about what was happening in Auschwitz and other
camps, the occupation reign of terror in Poland, the killing of Poles, and
the extermination of the Jews.

It is supposed that Cecil would have been involved in the above

issues as well as a range of issues including matters connected
with the process of recognition of the government in exile and
matters related to the war effort and budgetary matters; plus it is
not unreasonable to believe he would have had intensive
discussions with the Czechoslovak government in exile in London.

It is also possible that Cecil would have been in some way

involved when the Polish government in exile, on December 15,
1941, inaugurated the "Polish Postal Service" with Polish stamps
that propagandised the fact that the Polish Army, Air Force, Navy,
and Merchant Marine were still fighting as the fifth world power,
albeit that they were fighting beyond Poland's boundaries.

All these issues, no doubt would have placed great demands on Cecil’s
well honed diplomatic skills, though after the excitement, danger and thrill
of the year before they may have seemed somewhat humdrum.

And sadly it is here that the research trail for Cecil dries up..........

Cecil would have been 59 years old, and considering Mary’s mention in a
letter to the family of his proposed retirement a year earlier, it would not
be out of order to consider that he finally decided on a much quieter life.
Perhaps he went back to fishing, though in hindsight it’s a great shame he
didn’t put his adventures down on paper!
Władysław Sikorski, first Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile

.
The distinction between managers and officers is not necessarily as
apparent. Senior officers (such as first and second secretaries) often
manage junior diplomats and locally-hired staff.

In modern diplomatic practice there are a number of diplomatic ranks

below Ambassador. Since most missions are now headed by an
Ambassador, these ranks now rarely indicate a mission's (or its host
nation's) relative importance, but rather reflect the diplomat's individual
seniority within their own nation's diplomatic career path and in the
diplomatic corps in the host nation:

• Ambassador (High Commissioner in Commonwealth missions);

Ambassador at large
• Minister
• Minister-Counselor
• Counselor
• First Secretary
• Second Secretary
• Third Secretary
• Attaché
• Assistant Attaché
THE DORMER FAMILY
TREE

FROM Cecil to Tony

Some significant sources and further reading

Norway 1940 by Francois Kersaudy

Snow Treasures by Janet Voke

thePeerage.com - Person Page 3414