Word: sproat
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Freddie, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in June 1978, tried in vain to get help. Last Sir Freddie Thursday he phoned Iain Sproat, Britain's Under-Secretary for Trade, to warn that without government aid, his airline would crash. Later that day Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher discussed Laker's plight with several Cabinet members, but chose not to bail out the carrier. Early next morning, at a tense meeting with his board of directors at Gatwick, Laker called it quits...
...question remains: Why did he make the broadcasts in the first place? As Sproat points out, at the time of the broadcasts, the United States was still neutral in the war. Because he was taken prisoner so early, it would have been impossible for Wodehouse to realize the extent of the crimes the Nazis were committing. And because of his age (all captured internees from France were released at the age of 60) and his captors' respect for his reputation, Wodehouse was released from the prison camp. He often asked to be returned to England or at least...
Indeed, after the war, British authorities conceded that they had no case against Wodehouse and made no charges against him. But, as Sproat states, while by a jury one must be proven guilty, by the public one must often be proven innocent. Sentiment raged against Wodehouse following the war. The British people were still stinging with the memory of the notorious "Lord Haw-Haw" who during the war had terrified civilians over the airwaves...
OVER THE YEARS, of course, anger against Wodehouse subsided somewhat, and his books (which at one point were banned in much of England and the U.S.) became once again popular. But, as Sproat writes, the notion that he had betrayed his country "followed him to his grave." As late as 1972, when Sproat tried to recommend Wodehouse (who during his life published more than 90 books) for knighthood, then-Prime Minister Edward Heath refused to back...
Wodehouse at War stands as Sproat's final attempt to vindicate Wodehouse and to clear his name. The book is certainly no masterpiece; it is somewhat sloppily written, repetitive, and in its structure often resembles an Expository Writing position paper. But it is painstakingly researched--offering numerous documents and quotes from sources Sproat has interviewed--and it makes its point. Wodehouse, it seems clear, was no traitor, Perhaps this book will finally lift that title from his name...