George Frank Norman Reddaway (2 May 1918 – 12 October 1999) was a British civil servant and diplomat.

Career

The younger son of William Fiddian Reddaway (1872-1949), Professor of History at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Norman Reddaway attended

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...

, and later gained a Double First in Modern Languages at Cambridge. He joined the British army as a private on the outbreak of war in 1939. He spent most of the wartime years with the

GHQ Liaison Regiment GHQ Liaison Regiment (known as Phantom) was a special reconnaissance unit of the British Army first formed in 1939 during the early stages of World War II. The regiment's headquarters were at The Richmond Hill Hotel in Richmond, Surrey (now i ...

, leaving in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1946, after serving with the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany, Italy and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far ...

, he joined the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

. Under Under-Secretary of State

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

, Reddaway co-founded the

Information Research Department The Information Research Department (IRD) was a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Foreign Office, created to publish anti-communist propaganda, including black propaganda, provide support and i ...

(IRD), a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign Office. Mayhew and Reddaway had served together in GHQ Liaison Regiment. Reddaway was also instrumental in providing anti-Communist propaganda in Indonesia during the

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement (, also known as G30S, and by the syllabic abbreviation Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement, also unofficially called Gestok, for ''Gerakan Satu Oktober'', or Fir ...

. The Foreign Office gave Reddaway a budget of £100,000 and told him "to do anything ecould do to get rid of

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

". At the end of his career in the

UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

, he took charge of its information departments, which involved liaising with the BBC overseas services. From 1974 to 1978, Reddaway was British Ambassador to Poland.

Personal

Norman Reddaway's son

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

also became an ambassador.

References

1918 births 1999 deaths People educated at Oundle School Reconnaissance Corps officers British anti-communist propagandists British Army personnel of World War II Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland Information Research Department Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-gov-bio-stub