Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Fleetwood Hesketh (28 July 1902 – 14 November 1987), born Roger Bibby-Hesketh, was a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

from 1952 to 1959.

Early life

Roger Bibby-Hesketh was the first of six children born to Major Charles Hesketh Fleetwood-Hesketh (1871–1947) and his wife Anne Dorothea ( Brocklebank) Fleetwood-Hesketh (1877–1940). His mother died in the torpedoing and sinking of the British ocean liner SS ''City of Benares'' in September 1940, along with 257 others including 81 children. Hesketh was educated at Eton from where, in 1922, he was commissioned into the

Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (DLOY) was a yeomanry unit of the British Army from 1798 to 1992. Originally raised as part-time cavalry for home defence and internal security, the regiment sent mounted infantry to serve in the Second Boer ...

as a 2nd Lieutenant. He attended university at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and was called to bar in 1928 at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in February 1940, then at the rank of Major, he transferred to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

from the Yeomanry. As Lieutenant Colonel, Fleetwood-Hesketh was a member of

Ops (B) Ops (B) was an Allied military deception planning department, based in the United Kingdom, during the Second World War. It was set up under Colonel Jervis-Read in April 1943 as a department of Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC) ...

, the deception section of SHAEF that helped plan

Operation Fortitude Operation Fortitude was a military deception operation by the Allied nations as part of Operation Bodyguard, an overall deception strategy during the buildup to the 1944 Normandy landings. Fortitude was divided into two subplans, North and So ...

, a key portion of

Operation Bodyguard Operation Bodyguard was the code name for a World War II military deception, deception strategy employed by the Allies of World War II, Allied states before the 1944 invasion of northwest Europe. Bodyguard set out an overall stratagem for mislea ...

, the deception plan covering the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. He wrote a history of his role and the operation that was published after his death. Following the end of the war, Hesketh was sent to Germany, alongside his brother, to search through the files of German intelligence, and question officers. He was then asked to write a history of deception in Western Europe, including the work up to and including Operation Fortitude. In the 1970s books about Second World War deception began to appear.

Sefton Delmer Denis Sefton Delmer (24 May 1904 – 4 September 1979) was a British journalist of Australian heritage and propagandist for the British government during the Second World War. Born in Berlin and fluent in German, he became friendly with Erns ...

's 1971 book, ''The Counterfeit Spy'', appeared to be copied from Hesketh's earlier unpublished report.

Noel Wild Colonel Harry Noel Havelock Wild OBE (born 10 November 1903;''Daily Telegraph'' obituary, page 23, 14 June 1995 usually referred to as Noel Wild) was a British Army officer during the Second World War. He is notable for being second in command o ...

had provided Delmer with a copy of the report. Hesketh was annoyed and threatened to sue. However, the Government claimed

Crown Copyright Crown copyright is a type of copyright protection. It subsists in works of the governments of some Commonwealth realms and provides special copyright rules for the Crown, i.e. government departments and (generally) state entities.Judge, E. F. (201 ...

on his report and he was not able to. In the end Delmer added a credit to the second edition of the book, and Hesketh and other deceivers were able to correct inaccuracies. Hesketh's report was eventually published posthumously in 1999, with a foreword by "Nigel West" (the pseudonym of

Rupert Allason Rupert William Simon Allason (born 8 November 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subject of esp ...

Political career

Hesketh was

High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanca ...

in 1947 and later Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire from 1950 to 1972. He remained a reserve officer in the Territorial Army, with the honorary rank of Colonel, until 1957. In 1948, Hesketh was awarded an American

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

(Degree of Officer). In 1970, he was appointed Officer (Civil Division) of the Order of the British Empire, at the time he was chairman of the Lancashire Agricultural Executive Committee. His name changed twice: the first time in 1907, when his father changed the family name from Bibby-Hesketh to Fleetwood-Hesketh, and on 10 August 1956, when he changed his name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

to the unhyphenated form of Roger Fleetwood Hesketh. In the 1960s, Hesketh rebuilt the family home of

Meols Hall Meols Hall is a historical manor house in Churchtown, Merseyside, dating from the 12th century with a 16th-century tithe barn restored for wedding receptions and ceremonies. History Meols Hall dates back to the late 12th century when the manor ...

, Southport (he had a hobbyist interest in architecture). He died in 1987.

References

Bibliography

London Gazette

* * * * *

War Record

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleetwood-Hesketh, Roger 1902 births 1987 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Artillery officers People educated at Eton College Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire High sheriffs of Lancashire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry officers Military deception biographies Officers of the Legion of Merit 20th-century English lawyers English barristers