The extent to which Special Branch police monitored George Orwell as a suspected communist has been revealed in papers disclosed for the first time today at the National Archives in Kew.
The documents, which include details of surveillance between the 1920s and 60s, indicate not only the wide range of groups and individuals being watched by police but also officers' spectacular ability to misjudge what they saw. The obtuseness of some exasperated their superiors.
A Sergeant Ewing of Special Branch, monitoring Orwell's attempt to recruit Indians to work for the BBC's India service in January 1942, noted: "This man has advanced communist views ... He dresses in a bohemian fashion both at his office and in his leisure hours."
Read it all: Odd clothes and unorthodox views - why MI5 spied on Orwell for a decade
By Stephen Bates in The Guardian 4 September 2007
I'm filing this under "you can't make this stuff up," but they did.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for visiting.
Please be considerate... no off-topic, racist, sexist or homophobic comments.
Comment moderation is on.
No anonymous comments will be accepted..