"High Commissioner To Cypress”Peter Ramsbotham Signed 3X5 Card JG Autographs COA

Description

Up for auction the "3rd Viscount Soulbury" Peter Ramsbotham Hand Signed 3X5 Card
.
This item is certified authentic by JG Autographs and comes
with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-1677B
Peter Edward
Ramsbotham, 3rd Viscount Soulbury
GCMG
GCVO
DL
(8
October 1919 – 9 April 2010) was a British diplomat and
colonial administrator
. Born in London,
Ramsbotham was the younger son of
Herwald Ramsbotham
, later
the 1st Viscount Soulbury. He was educated at
Eton College
and
at
Magdalen College, Oxford
. At Oxford he
contracted polio in 1938, which left him with a slightly shorter right leg. He
was already working for
MI5
as
a civilian when he joined the army on the outbreak of the Second World War. In
April 1941, Ramsbotham was working in B3 Division of MI5 (Communications) with
the task of studying the activities of foreign journalists in the UK. In July
he was with B3A (Censorship) before moving to E3 (Alien Control – USA citizens
in the UK and other territories). By 1943 he was with E2 Division dealing with
nationals from the
Baltic states
, the
Balkans
and
Central Europe. In June 1943, he left MI5 and was later commissioned into
the
Intelligence Corps
on
9 June 1944. As a fluent speaker in French, he continued to work with MI5 on
the
Continent
as a member of 106 Special Counter
Intelligence Unit (SCIU), running
double agents
and
acting as a liaison officer to the
counter-espionage
section of the French
Intelligence Service. He also reported to the
'212' Committee
', the
Allied equivalent of MI5's '
XX Committee
' ('Double Cr
oss Committee'). At
the close of hostilities, he was employed in the Political Division of the
Control Commissions for both Germany and Austria and served also in Hamburg and
Berlin. In recognition of his exemplary service during the war, he received
a
Mention in Despatches
in August 1945 and
was awarded a
Croix de Guerre
on 1 March 1949 (en
bloc). In 1948, Ramsbotham joined the
diplomatic service
on the advice of
his superior,
Sir Christopher Steel
. He failed the
Foreign Office exam on his first attempt, due to poor mathematical skill, but
passed six months later after some coaching. His first position was in the
German Department of the Foreign Office in London.
His posts
included High Commissioner to Cyprus (1969–1971) Ambassador to Iran (1971–1974)
and Ambassador to the United States (1974–1977). He had a close relationship
with
Jimmy Carter
, and was the first ambassador Carter invited to
the White House. Ramsbotham was removed from his position as Ambassador to the
United States by incoming Foreign Secretary
David Owen
.
Owen controversially replaced him with
Peter Jay
, who was economics editor of
The Times
,
the son-in-law of Prime Minister
James Callaghan
and
Owen's personal friend.
Ramsbotham's final posting was as
Governor of Bermuda
(1977–1980). During
his governorship, the two assassins of
Sir Richard Sharples
,
the former governor, were hanged. The executions were followed by extensive
rioting, as a result of which troops had to be sent to Bermuda to restore
order.