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of which was the Claire case. Early in 1941, ‘Paul Lewis Claire’, a French naval officer who had transferred to the Royal Navy after the fall of France, was taken on by Commander Slocum’s O Section in SIS to help run clandestine sea operations in French waters. By July Claire was in Spain where he was arrested at the frontier apparently trying to get to Vichy France. Subsequently, as Hoare cabled to London on 23 July, Claire had gone to the Vichy French naval attaché in Madrid, to whom he had ‘divulged many secrets of British S.S. in Spain and elsewhere’. Since ‘French Embassy are now trying by every possible means to get him to Vichy’, Hoare was ‘accordingly faced with the dilemma (1) capturing or killing him and running the risk of irrevocably compromising the Mission. (2) Letting him get to France with the information that will destroy our present intelligence organisation in Spain and do even greater harm elsewhere.’ Hoare wanted immediate instructions as Claire was expected to visit the embassy the following day to get his British passport. At SIS headquarters Frank Slocum advised that Hillgarth had been ‘asked to take what steps he can to intercept Claire’. He also suggested that SOE might be approached ‘to see if there is any possible step which could be taken in Spain or France to liquidate Claire’ and wondered ‘whether we could kidnap Claire’s wife or any member of his family in an effort to bring Claire to heel’. Convinced he was a traitor (and Hillgarth afterwards said Claire had admitted his treachery), and aware that he possessed damaging information, including the identities of at least one agent network in northern France, Menzies said that if Claire could be intercepted, ‘belief that he may learn something more to divulge may make it possible to get him to Gibraltar by road with assurance car will wait and bring him back to Madrid. Action Gibraltar’, he added, ‘will be arranged.’

What then happened can be followed in a series of telegrams mostly from Hamilton Stokes ‘for C.S.S. only’. At 1.00 a.m. on 25 July he reported that ‘in conjunction with Y.N. [Hillgarth] I have lured Claire to Embassy and rendered him unconscious. He leaves tonight under Morphia for Gibraltar by car.’ There was good news at 6.13 p.m.: the kidnap had been ‘satisfactorily accomplished’. Menzies responded by drafting a signal for Gibraltar instructing that Claire was ‘to be arrested on arrival, charged with treason and kept under close arrest until opportunity of sending him home. On no repeat no account whatsoever is he to be allowed to escape.’ But this signal was cancelled when, early the following morning, ‘51000’ (the SIS representative in Morocco, currently in Gibraltar) informed Hamilton Stokes that ‘consignment arrived in his ?town completely destroyed ?owing to over attention in transit. 51,000 states salvage being quietly disposed of tonight . . . Damage regretted but I submit it is for best.’ In a despatch a few days later 51000 explained that during the drive south the unfortunate Claire had recovered from the drug and had begun ‘shrieking for help and calling [sic] so much attention’. His captors had ‘hit him on head with a revolver’ with the result that he had died. ‘It could not have been a worse affair,’ wrote Hoare to Anthony Eden. ‘As to ignorance of conditions the airy suggestion that we should intercept him in his journey to France shows how totally ignorant S.I.S. are of work in a semi hostile country stiff with German Gestapo. As it is with great personal risk to ourselves and still greater to the existence of the mission we have got rid of him - he is dead.’ Though SIS was certainly at fault - Menzies frankly admitted that Claire should not have been sent to Spain - this criticism was less than fair. Hoare had himself raised the admittedly risky possibility of kidnapping Claire, and he later told Cadogan that ‘had it not been for Hamilton Stokes’ very efficient service, the man would now be in Vichy giving away every kind of secret to the Germans’. Rather ignoring the fact that Hamilton Stokes was himself an SIS