MI6 26, 106, 205, 211, 407; Section D 251; MI(R) 251; Z Organisation 194–5 see also SIS
MI1c (later known as MI6 or SIS) 106
Ministry of Economic Warfare 290, 410
Ministry of Home Security 263, 270
Ministry of Information 170, 242, 290, 293, 410, 411, 413
Ministry of Supply 269, 392
Ministry of War Transport 387, 391
MO5(g) 99, 100, 102
Molotov, Vyacheslav 284, 306, 309, 417
Monck, Bosworth 393
Monckton, Sir Walter 242, 287
Monitors (non-propelled vessels made from Pykrete) 370
Monson, Professor John 404
Montagu, Ivor 140–1, 284
Monte La Difensa 383
Montreal Engineering Company 361
Moore, Arthur 20
Moore, G. E. 132
Morrison, Herbert 225
Moscow National Bank 141
Moses, Brigadier-General Raymond W. 299, 314
Mosley, Oswald 159, 172
Mountbatten, Lord Louis 409, 410, 412, 431, 435, 437; Allied raid on Dieppe and 309, 339, 343; ancestry 247; anti-Semitic sentiment, incapable of 426; appearance 246, 247, 252, 309; appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia 372, 377; Bernal/Zuckerman and 269, 270; Churchill, relationship with 248, 273, 339–40, 340; Combined Operations, takes over command of 248–9; Director of Programmes at Combined Operations, offers GP job of 255, 260 fourth Chief of Staff, appointed 276; GP’s relationship with 3, 4, 246–7, 249–50, 252–5, 261, 263, 270, 271, 274–5, 279–80, 293, 294, 295, 296, 320, 321, 322, 325–6, 373–4, 376, 377–9, 380, 381, 385, 389, 396, 438; Habbakuk and 328, 329, 330, 331, 335–6, 337, 338, 339, 341–3, 344, 345–6, 350, 351, 352, 354, 359, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367–8, 369, 370–1, 373–4, 376; King George VI and 271; leaves Combined Operations 381; MI5’s attempts to force GP out of Combined Operations and 293–4, 325–6, 327; Mulberry harbours and 370, 383; naval career 247–8; Plough project and 235, 245, 249, 250, 252, 261, 263, 272, 273, 274–5, 276, 277, 278, 279, 295, 296, 297, 299, 301, 302, 303, 306, 308–9, 310, 311, 313–14, 317, 319, 320, 321, 322, 328; PLUTO and 370, 381–2, 383
Murphy, Peter 294
Mussolini, Benito 172, 183
Myers, Elsie 388, 389, 400, 401
Myers, Leo 285, 286, 291, 389, 400, 401, 417
Nachrichten-Abteilung or ‘N’ (German Admiralty’s intelligence service) 99, 103
Napier, Admiral Charles 102–3
Nation 128, 162, 166, 168, 169, 170, 174, 175, 392
National Council of Labour 186
National Geographic Magazine 332
National Research Council of Canada 347
Nature 129
Nazi-Soviet/Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939 203–4, 208, 215, 219, 284–5, 417
Needham, Joseph 178
Negretti and Zambra 209, 210, 220, 415
Neill, A. S. 134
Nevinson, Henry 110
New Statesman 128, 162, 166, 168, 169, 170, 174, 175, 290, 392
New York Times 151, 402
Newfoundland 361
NHS (National Health Service) 4, 394–5, 397, 429
Nicholson, Ben 157, 390
Nicolson, Harold 119
Nijmegen bridgehead 383
1917 Club (Soho members’ club) 110–11, 157
NKVD 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 233, 257, 262, 291, 407, 408, 410, 412, 413, 414
Noel-Baker, Philip 391
Normandy landings 381–2
North Africa 250–1, 352
North Atlantic Ice Patrol 332
Norway 12, 13, 25, 218, 219, 222, 236–44, 251, 252, 261, 266, 272, 273, 274, 277, 278, 306, 308, 349, 365, 424
Nunn, Sir Percy 144, 152
Nunn May, Dr Allan 284
Nye, Lieutenant-General Archie 261, 262, 277, 296
Observer 413
Office for National Statistics 430
Office of Lend-Lease Administration, U.S. 316
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), U.S. 298, 299, 301, 304, 305, 313, 314, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 329, 373, 374, 435
Official Secrets Act 325, 408
Ogden, C.K. 49, 140
Old Vienna Café, London 289, 290
Onchan Internment Camp, Isle of Man 223
Orcus 142–3
OSS 291, 326
Overlord, Operation 367, 381–4 see also D-Day
Owen, Frank 284
Palestine 229
Palestinian Communist Party 229
Parker, John 225
Parks-Smith, Major 249
Parliament, U.K. 13, 20, 222, 293, 398
Patricia Lake, Canada 354, 356, 361
Peake, Osbert 222–3
Pearl Harbor 332
Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, Birkbeck College, University of London 430
Pembroke College, Cambridge 100
Penguin 284
‘People’s Army’ 286
Permit Office 106
Perris, Ernest 20–1, 23–5, 29, 34, 37, 38, 42, 92, 94, 104, 105, 106, 108
Perutz, Max 348–51, 361–2, 370, 402, 426
Petrie, Sir David 327
Petroleum Warfare Department 382
Philby, Kim 211, 229, 408, 411–12
Piaget, Jean 139
Pippard, Professor 344
Plato: The Defence of Socrates vii
Ploesti oilfields, Romania 264
Plough 277, 280, 281, 295–323 328, 333, 334, 349, 373, 377, 382, 412, 422, 424, 427, 429–30; aims of 240–1, 251–2; Amery receives plan for 241–2; American-Canadian co-operation over 312, 322–3; birth of idea 236–41; Bush opposes 313–15, 318–19, 320–1; Churchill and 242, 273–4, 277, 278, 293, 295, 305, 308, 313, 320; Combined Operations, GP attempts to convince of validity of 235–6; cost of 278; Duncan attempts to wrest control of from GP 296, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307–8, 310, 312, 313, 322, 333, 396; Frederick and 307, 308, 310–11, 312, 323; guerilla force 4, 238–9, 240, 244, 250, 251, 252, 255, 261, 262, 264, 274, 277, 299, 304, 310, 311–12, 320, 322–3, 382–3, 385, 430; Mountbatten and 235, 245, 249–55, 261, 263, 272, 273, 274–5, 276, 277, 278, 279, 295, 296, 297, 299, 301, 302, 303, 306, 308–9, 310, 311, 313–14, 317, 319, 320, 321, 322, 328; name of 277; plan rejected by Combined Operations 241–3; questions over practicalities of 264–5; resignation letter, GP’s 301–6; revised and expanded proposal 244; secret papers go missing 306; snow as military element, treatment of 237–8; snowmobile, revolutionary 239–40, 243, 250, 252, 261, 264, 265–8, 273, 274, 277, 299, 300, 301, 304, 305, 307, 318, 320, 383; Soviet involvement in, GP encourages 274–5; U.S. Army, GP attempts to convince of validity 295–323; United States role in 273–80, 294, 295–323; Vice-Chiefs of Staff accept 261–2; Wedderburn and see Wedderburn, Major E. A. M.; White House, GP attempts to bypass US Army with approach to 315–21
PLUTO pipelines 3, 370, 381, 382, 383, 385, 430
Poland, German invasion of 193–4, 204, 214, 218
Pole, Jack 151
Pollitt, Henry 281, 325, 422
Pope, Major-General 312
Popular Front, Spanish 171, 172, 175, 178, 414–15
Portal, Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles 276, 369
Portugal 366
Pound, Sir Dudley 276, 372
Power-Driven Rivers 377
Prince of Wales 332
Pritt KC, D. N. ‘Johnny’ 142, 152
‘Professor Higgins’ 191, 203, 214, 215, 222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 228 see also Rünkel, Rolf
psychoanalysis 4, 114, 115, 121, 127, 129, 130, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 396, 415, 428
Punch 108, 109
Purchase, Bentley 403
Putnam, Palmer 299, 320, 322
Pyke, David (son) 112, 114, 120–1, 121, 125–6, 127, 129, 130, 134, 139–40, 144, 154, 158, 206, 207, 389, 400, 401–2, 428, 431
Pyke, Dorothy (sister) 115, 117, 117
Pyke, Evelyn (si
ster) 117, 117
Pyke, Geoffrey:
anti-Semitism, investigates and attempts to explain 159–67; attempts
personal scientific explanation of 166–7; GP’s own Jewishness and 160–1; proposes international centre to deal with question of 163–6; South Africa, fundraising in 165–6; Turkish government’s genocidal assault on Armenian Turks, 1915 and 162, 430; ‘witches’ in Medieval Europe and 161–3, 166
Cambridge University 7, 11, 12–14, 22, 24, 40, 42, 48–9, 50, 100–2, 104, 108, 119, 164–5, 170, 183, 213, 288, 348, 349, 361, 387; academic performance at 24; abilities make him ‘conspicuous’ at 11; Cambridge Magazine, job at 104–5, 109, 111, 121–2, 140, 420; Heretics 12–14, 16, 24, 49, 387; Marinetti/Futurism, enthusiasm for 13–15; returns to after First World War 100–1; social circle 125–6, 140–1, 150–1, 158, 174; Union 24, 48; walking tour of Norway and Sweden 12, 14–17, 23, 64
character and appearance: anti-war stance and opposition to principle of defensive nationalism 104, 105, 109, 111, 121, 284; appearance 1, 4, 11, 28, 51, 64, 117, 119, 123, 140, 158, 177, 184, 190, 198–9, 235, 253, 261, 282, 288, 298, 386; atheism 51, 54, 118, 125; characters, adopts string of 70–9, 83–4, 89–90; Communism and 141, 175, 176, 209, 210–12, 217–18, 219, 221–34, 235, 244–5, 255, 256–60, 270, 271–2, 281–94, 324, 325, 327, 363, 380, 389, 405, 407–27; death of father, effect upon 13, 20, 119, 127; detective fiction, love of 69–70; eccentric 1, 5, 61, 190, 196, 326, 378, 438; Fabianism and see Fabianism; fame 5, 111; gadfly 5, 298; Jewishness 27–8, 51, 54, 75, 101, 107, 113, 117, 118, 119–20, 122, 158, 159, 160–4, 214, 288, 425–6; jokes/laughter, use of 5, 160, 179–80, 271, 329, 389; lack of discipline 118; language skills 22, 26, 31, 35, 39; nationality, claims to have no 104, 105; optimism 51, 55, 56, 193, 300; pessimism 51; risk taking 7, 16, 42, 56, 79, 80, 120, 154, 187, 188, 189, 199, 278, 308, 316, 345, 359, 362; scientific approach to life 121, 123–4; sell ideas, ability to 182, 249–55, 436–7; set of lives 1–2; sexual performance 139; speaking skills, public 24, 48, 166, 298; thinking without fear of failure 15–16, 23, 63, 64, 91; turning on those closest to him, capacity for 389–90; voice 1, 24, 190, 388; women and 388–9 see also Chubb, Margaret and Isaacs, Susie; youthful frame of mind, remains in 396–7, 438 see also health and mental health
childhood and schooldays: adolescence 6–7, 15, 24; bullied at school 11, 118–20, 160–1; childhood 11, 20, 114–20, 139, 154, 160–1, 338, 434, 438; family background 27–8, 97 see also family; home tutoring 119; St Edmund’s, Hindhead 118; Wellington College 13, 118–20, 160–1, 288, 338, 426
Combined Operations 3, 6, 235–6, 242, 243; ability to solve problems recognised at 263–9; achievement at 381–5; attempts to awaken minds at 268–9, 385; colleagues in 262, 269–71, 287; Department of Wild Talents and 270–2, 354; Director of Programmes, appointed 3, 6, 255, 280; dream job for 262–3; end of job at 381; improvements to 279; Habbakuk and 335–40, 342–71, 372–3, 385, 387, 388, 393–4, 429, 431; insider’s account of a secret meeting of found in Burgess’s flat 272; MI5 attempts to curtail role at 6, 255, 272–2, 280, 293–4, 324–5, 326–7, 342, 387; Mountbatten as head of 248–9, 250, 252, 260, 263, 269, 270, 273; Mountbatten leaves 372, 376, 380, 381; Mountbatten takes over 248–9; Mulberry harbours and see Mulberry harbours; ‘New Ideas for the Army’ 268–9; ‘Obituary Notice of Lord Louis Montbatten’ 378–9; Plough project implementation and see ‘Plough’ project; Plough plan, attempts to sell to 235–6, 242, 243–55; PLUTO and see PLUTO; salary at 255, 262, 381 see also Combined Operations
escape from Germany during First World War 66, 67–98, 102, 103, 113; art of solving problems, introduction to during 91; characters, formulation of string of 70–9, 83–4, 89–90; confounding of expectations and 67; detective fiction, influence of 69–70, 91; Emsdetten, time in 80; fame for 97–8; Gildehauser Venn, time in 86–7; Goslar, pretends to be hiking in 75–6; heart attack, mild 86, 88; Holland, crosses into 80–90; planning of 67–9, 68; press coverage of 92–7; Teutoburg Forest, escape through 76–80; theft and nature of disguise, understanding of 78–9, 91
family: brothers and sisters see under individual family member name; father see Pyke, Lionel; marriage (to Margaret Chubb) 111, 112, 122–3, 123, 124, 125–8, 137–9, 149, 153–4, 158, 388, 400, 402; mother see Pyke, Mary; son (David) 112, 114, 120–1, 121, 125–6, 127, 129, 130, 134, 139–40, 144, 154, 158, 206, 207, 389, 400, 401–2, 428, 431 see also under individual family member name
finances: crash in/bankruptcy 148–54, 157–8, 175, 297, 358; debt 128–9, 148, 164; debts written off 164; desperate nature of 176; handouts from friends, survives on 157; inheritance 140, 157, 381; Malting House School and 121, 151, 152; metals trader 7, 128–9, 140–3; salary at Combined Operations 255, 262, 278, 381; survey of German attitudes to war and 200; poverty 158; study of financial markets 124, 126, 128; tax-reduction scheme 142–3, 152; unemployment benefit from Association of Scientific Workers 392; unpaid work at Ministry of War Transport 391–3; wealth 128–9
genius 3; ‘auto-Socratic technique’ 264–5; approach to question and 7, 53, 174, 186, 402, 432; attachment to a tentative solution, steers away from 435; beguiling, self-destructive 5, 6; belief that everything is possible 15; boldness and 5, 7, 15–16, 130, 162, 182, 382; challenging what you have been told, talent for 63, 432–3; cleverness 11, 109, 113, 254, 326, 388; daily agony of scrutinising accepted facts 53, 91, 433; foolish, prepared to look 7, 17–18, 187, 241, 298, 432; for coming up with radical ideas, not for seeing them through to completion 5, 167, 278, 319, 385; formulation of questions/problems 28, 70, 91, 181, 238, 433; intellectually adventurous 181, 432; intuitive and crystal-sharp understanding of what mattered, why it mattered and what he as a private citizen could do about it 5; invent, begins to 180; laughter as source of inspiration 201–3, 298, 329, 337–8; management skills, lack of 179–80; mines past for historical analogies 180, 181, 433; no expertise or university degree 4–5; post-mortem/casting eye back on project 437; protecting ideas from opposition 435–6; refusal to take any assumptions for granted 63; reversal, weakness for 166, 434–5; risk taking 7, 16, 42, 56, 79, 80, 120, 154, 187, 188, 189, 199, 278, 308, 316, 345, 359, 362; seeks inspiration from world around him 181, 433–4; sell ideas, ability to 182, 249–55, 436–7; solve problems, ability to 91, 262–9; theft and nature of disguise, understanding of 70–9, 83–4, 89–90, 91; thinking without fear of failure 15–16, 23, 63, 64, 91 see also under individual project name
Habbakuk project 431, 435, 436; Admiralty press release on, 1946 393–4; Berg-ship 336–7, 341–2, 344, 345, 347, 348, 351, 352, 355, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363–4, 365, 370, 373, 429; Bernal and 345, 346, 352, 353–4, 355, 356, 357–8, 359, 360, 362–3, 364, 373–4, 375, 376, 396; Canadian trials 344, 345, 347–66, 356, 357; Churchill and 338, 341–2, 344, 346, 351, 359, 360, 362, 364, 365, 366, 368–9, 376; demise of 366–7, 372–6, 377, 381, 385, 387; GP seen as security risk on 374–5; Habbakuk Directing Committee 344; Habbakuk Standing Committee 363–4; legacy of 429; Mackenzie and 346–8, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 360, 361, 364, 373, 375; Mountbatten and 327–8, 329, 330–1, 335–6, 337, 338, 339–43, 344, 345–6, 350, 351, 352, 354, 359, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367–8, 369, 370–1, 373–4, 376; name of project 338–9; plan/proposal for 327–39; ‘Pykrete’ 334–6, 349–51, 354, 356, 358–9, 360, 361–2, 367–71, 373, 377, 393–4, 429, 436; Superman comic strip and 374–5; United States role in 367–71, 372–4
health and mental health: Addison’s Disease, possible 403–4, 405, 425; bipolar disorder, possible 404–5; depression 46, 54, 76, 397, 403, 405; ‘double pneumonia’, contracts 51–2, 60, 153, 403–4; heart attack, mild 86, 88; heart, weak 58, 63, 75, 78, 83, 86, 88; periodic bouts of chronic inertia 153; mental breakdown 49, 152–4, 157–8, 259; mental condition, fragile 48–9, 52, 100–1, 163, 329, 403, 405; mystery illnesses 127, 152–3, 330, 345, 358, 388, 397, 403–5; psychoanalyst, sees 114, 129, 130, 168, 180, 396; suicide 1–3, 5, 400–6; suicide attempt, possible 153
homes: Albany, London 244–5, 345,
387; Cambridge 125–8; childhood/family 13, 20, 110, 119; Devil’s Punchbowl, Surrey Hills, cottage in 157–8, 168, 171, 209, 259; Downshire Hill, Hampstead 387–8, 389, 390; Gordon Square, London 124, 125; Great Ormond Street, London 174, 179, 185, 188, 190, 192, 195, 206, 209, 218, 262, 387, 421; Piccadilly, London 285–6, 344–5; St James’s Square, London 285, 288, 289, 387; Steele’s Road, Hampstead 1–3, 387, 389, 391, 395, 402
Malting House School 114, 120–40, 141, 142, 144–8, 150–2, 153, 165, 170, 297, 312, 326, 430–1; brightest toddlers in Cambridge, attracts 132; closure of 153; ‘co-investigators’ at 133; discovery must be allied to utility/heuristics and 132–3; experience of children at 131–2; financial problems 121, 151, 152; garden at 131; idea for 114, 120–40; impact on British education of 132, 151; international institute for educational research, GP decides to turn into an 144; lack of classrooms 131; need for boundaries at 147–8; prestige of 139–40; problems with children at 134–7, 147–8; promotional film (Let’s Find Out) 144–7; punishments at 134–5, 136; questions, answering of at 132; recording of experiences at 132, 134; recruitment 128–30; scientific experiment and 131, 132; Susie Isaacs, GP’s affair with 137–9; Susan Isaacs resigns from 149