Norman Reddaway

George Frank Norman Reddaway CBE (2 May 1918 – 12 October 1999) was a British civil servant and diplomat.[1]

Career

The younger son of William Fiddian Reddaway (1872-1949), Professor of History at Cambridge University, Norman Reddaway attended King's College School,[2] Oundle School, 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, leaving in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1946, after serving with the Allied Control Commission, he joined the British Foreign Office.[3]

Under Under-Secretary of State Christopher Mayhew, Reddaway co-founded the Information Research Department (IRD), a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign Office.[4] 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 Foreign Office gave Reddaway a budget of £100,000 and told him "to do anything [he] could do to get rid of Sukarno".[4] At the end of his career in the UK Foreign Office, he took charge of its information departments, which involved liaising with the BBC overseas services.[3]

From 1974 to 1978, Reddaway was British Ambassador to Poland.[3]

Personal

Norman Reddaway's son David also became an ambassador.[1][5]

References
  1. Michael Adams (3 November 1999). "Obituary: Norman Reddaway". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
  2. Henderson, RJ (1981). A History of King's College Choir School Cambridge. ISBN 978-0950752808.
  3. Campbell, Alan (25 October 1999). "Norman Reddaway". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. Lashmar, Paul; Gilby, Nicholas; Oliver, James (17 October 2021). "Slaughter in Indonesia: Britain's secret propaganda war". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. Stacey Hailes (13 January 2016). "The Goldsmiths' Company appoints Sir David Reddaway as new clerk". The Goldsmiths' Company, England. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
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