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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 Campbell, Alan (25 October 1999). "Norman Reddaway". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 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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