Edwin Boxshall
Edwin Boxshall | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edwin George Boxshall 4 February 1897 |
| Died | 26 January 1984 (aged 86) London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Intelligence officer, commercial agent, soe adviser |
| Years active | 1916–1982 |
| Employer(s) | Vickers Limited Imperial Chemical Industries Foreign Office |
| Known for | Longest-serving British intelligence officer[1] Custodian of SOE archives (1959–1982)[2] |
| Spouse | Elise Stirbey (m. 1920; div. 1947) |
| Children | 1 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1916–1919; 1940s (SOE) |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | Special Operations Executive (SOE) |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | MBE |
Edwin "Eddie" George Boxshall (4 February 1897 – 26 January 1984) MBE was a British intelligence officer, commercial representative and adviser to the Foreign Office. He served in both the First and Second World Wars and played a prominent role in intelligence and commercial affairs related to Romania.
Described as one of the longest-serving officers in British intelligence history, he continued to advise MI6 and the Foreign Office well into his eighties.
Biography
[edit]Early life and First World War
[edit]Edwin George Boxshall was born on 4 February 1897 in Bucharest, Romania,[3] where his father, William, ran a small business importing tractors. His mother, Marie Meyer, was of German origin.[3]
During the First World War, Boxshall joined the British Military Mission, holding the rank of second lieutenant. Before the German occupation of Bucharest in late 1916, he had worked there as part of a small British intelligence unit under Mansfield Cumming. Boxshall, who was half German and a native of Bucharest, helped coordinate espionage efforts against Bulgaria and manage the flow of reports from agents, including intelligence relayed from Constantinople.[4]
As German forces advanced, Boxshall and the British team relocated to the temporary Romanian capital, Iași, under the cover of a military mission to continue intelligence work.[4] He was subsequently tasked with gathering information on developments in Bessarabia and southern Russia. Captured by Bolshevik forces and detained at Hotin on the Dniester River, he was later released and returned to Iași in late 1918. He was eventually evacuated to Britain via Murmansk.[5]
Interwar intelligence and commercial work
[edit]In 1919, Boxshall returned to Bucharest as a commercial representative for Vickers Limited and Nobel Industries (later Imperial Chemical Industries).[3] According to multiple sources, this position also served as cover for his activities as SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) Head of Station in Romania, where he operated under the auspices of British intelligence for roughly two decades.[6][1][a]
Like many British agents in the interwar period, Boxshall worked under what SIS termed a "natural cover" arrangement, using his Vickers role to fund and disguise official intelligence operations.[7] SIS (later known as MI6) had developed close relationships with firms such as Vickers, Shell, and British American Tobacco, encouraging employees stationed abroad to collect information.[7] In return, the companies were kept informed about the activities of their rivals and the local political climate. As Vickers' representative, Boxshall played a key role in strengthening the Bucharest bureau, which grew in importance following the loss of British networks in Soviet Russia.[7]
Under a liaison agreement with Romanian intelligence, Boxshall helped run joint operations into the Soviet Union, effectively concealing British involvement.[7] He developed a wide network of influential contacts, including arms magnate Sir Basil Zaharoff, whose support helped legitimise his commercial role.[1] Boxshall became Chief of the Armament Section at Reșița Steel Works, a major Romanian industrial firm (important for arms and metallurgy).[8] During this time, he was instrumental in brokering military-industrial contracts, including the sale of submarine equipment to the Romanian Navy.[3] He also gathered intelligence on the Balkans and the Soviet Union through contacts with agents, defectors, and refugees.[1]
On 25 April 1920, he married Princess Elise Stirbey, known as "Madie", daughter of Barbu Știrbey, a prominent Romanian political figure and confidant of Queen Marie.[3] Boxshall remained in Romania throughout the interwar period and, after returning to Britain, continued to work in the Eastern European sections of MI6.[1]
Second World War and SOE service
[edit]
In 1940, Boxshall joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), serving as the Romanian expert in SOE's Balkan section in London.[10] In 1941, SOE's mission in Bucharest was withdrawn alongside the British diplomatic legation. The only contact subsequently maintained with Romania was through a wireless set left behind in the residence of Prince Barbu Știrbey, Boxshall's father-in-law.[9] Boxshall managed communications with Iuliu Maniu, the Peasant Party leader.[11] In 1941, in addition to Romania, he assumed a supervisory position overseeing SOE operations in Greece, Crete, and Albania.[12]
Boxshall’s role was further constrained as SOE command shifted from London to forward bases in Cairo and Bari. Boxshall increasingly found key decisions made in the field, weakening the authority of the London Balkan desk during the later stages of the war.[11] In March 1944, Boxshall travelled to Cairo to meet Știrbey, who was involved in armistice discussions between Romania and the Allies.[3]
Later life and legacy
[edit]After SOE was disbanded at the end of the War, Boxshall rejoined the Secret Intelligence Service, overseeing intelligence and political developments in Eastern Europe.[13] In 1959, he was appointed the first SOE Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,[b] tasked with advising on the release of information regarding wartime operations and handling public enquiries.[14] His official remit was restrictive, and some observers believed his principal function was to prevent sensitive information from being released.[15] Boxshall was succeeded as the Foreign Office’s SOE Adviser by Christopher M. Woods followed by Gervase Cowell.
In 1960, Boxshall completed a classified chronology of SOE operations with the French Resistance. He later developed a deep personal interest in the 1944 Oradour-sur-Glane massacre, maintaining a file on the case from 1953 to 1971 and critically engaging with revisionist narratives that sought to downplay German culpability.[16] Boxshall remained an adviser to British intelligence services well into his later years,[3] and was reportedly still being consulted at the time of his death in London on 26 January 1984.[1][17] He has been described as one of the longest-serving officers in British intelligence history.[1]
Honours
[edit]Boxshall was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in June 1945.[18] He also received the War Medal 1939–1945 and held several foreign honours, including the Knight of the Order of the Crown of Romania (K.O.C.R.) and the Russian Order of St Anne.[8]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Bennett 2012, p. 166.
- ^ Conradi 2013, p. 399.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Deletant 2016, p. xi.
- ^ a b Smith 2011, p. 202.
- ^ Davenport-Hines 2008.
- ^ Parris 2021.
- ^ a b c d Smith 2011, p. 338.
- ^ a b Taylor 1935, p. 124.
- ^ a b Foot 2014, p. 231.
- ^ Foot 2014, p. 145.
- ^ a b Foot 2014, p. 232.
- ^ West 2019, p. 123.
- ^ West 2019, p. 51.
- ^ a b Imperial War Museums.
- ^ Seaman 2006, p. 227.
- ^ Pike 2021, p. 202.
- ^ Deacon 1989, p. 166.
- ^ The Gazette 1945.
- Works cited
- Bennett, Richard (24 April 2012). Espionage: Spies and Secrets. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4481-3214-0.
- Conradi, Peter J. (1 August 2013). A Very English Hero: The Making of Frank Thompson. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4088-3092-5.
- Davenport-Hines, Richard (January 2008) [2004]. "Boxshall, Edwin George (1897–1984)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
- Deacon, Richard (1989). Spyclopaedia: An Encyclopaedia of Spies, Secret Services, Operations, Jargon and All Subjects Related to the World of Espionage. Little, Brown Book Group Limited. ISBN 978-0-7088-4220-1.
- Deletant, Dennis (2016). "Biographies of Key Figures". British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War (PDF). London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. xi. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-57452-7. ISBN 978-1-349-55509-3.
- "Supplement 37122, 8 June 1945". The Gazette. 8 June 1945.
- Imperial War Museums. "Private Papers of Lieutenant Colonel E G Boxshall MBE". iwm.org.uk.
- Foot, M. R. D. (2014). S. O. E.: 1940–1945 – Special Operations Executive. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-1-84792-293-9.
- Parris, James (1 June 2021). How British Intelligence Plotted to Read Hitler's Mind: How British Intelligence Plotted to Read Hitler's Mind. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9779-9.
- Pike, Robert (30 April 2021). Silent Village: The Life and Death of Oradour-sur-Glane. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9760-7.
- Seaman, Mark (2006). Special Operations Executive: A New Instrument of War. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-38398-1.
- Smith, Michael (31 October 2011). Six: The Real James Bonds 1909-1939. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-264-7.
- Taylor, Stephen (1935). Who's who in Central and East-Europe. Central European Times Publishing Company.
- West, Nigel (30 January 2019). Secret War: The Story of SOE, Britain's Wartime Sabotage Organisation. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-5267-5567-4.