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This may not entirely be as clear cut as it seems, as many in Britain did not want to abandon the japanese alliance after the 1921 Washington Treaty and were concerned about britian's position in the Far East. --- Steve Wagner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --------------------------- > > from > http://www.japantoday.com/ > __________ > > British WWI air force officer spied for Japan, files > show > > Will Hollingworth > > Friday, January 4, 2002 at 09:30 JST > > LONDON - A pillar of the British establishment was > passing secret > information about aviation design to Japan during > the 1920s, > according to secret government files declassified > Thursday. > > The Foreign Office files from 1926 show that Lord > Sempill, reputedly > one of the founders of the Royal Flying Corps in > World War I, passed > details of British "aeronautical construction" to > the Japanese naval > attache in London, Capt Teijiro Toyoda. > > The records, which have remained classified for > the last 75 years, > indicate that the espionage took place roughly > between 1922 and early > 1926. > > Sempill, who died in 1965, had worked in Japan as > part of the British > air mission and served as an adviser to the Japanese > naval air > service. From the files, it would appear that > Sempill was stationed > in Japan between 1920 and 1922. > > Sempill was apparently well respected within > Japanese circles and > received a personal letter from the then Japanese > Prime Minister > Tomosaburo Kato (1922-1923) who thanked Sempill for > his work with the > Japanese Navy which he described as "almost epoch > making." > > The files show that after his return to Britain, > intelligence > services in Britain became suspicious about his > activities and > obtained a warrant from the Home Secretary to search > Sempill's home. > > They found correspondence between the Japanese > naval attache and > Sempill. In addition, there was evidence that > Sempill had been paid > for his services. > > According to the files, Sempill also tried to get > details of a secret > seaplane, codenamed Iris, which was being built by a > British company > where he also acted as an adviser. > > Sempill allegedly tried to get information by > getting into the > plane's hangar and then talking to the staff. > > It is unclear from the documents if any secret > information was > gleaned and whether it was passed on to Japan. > > The Foreign Office became involved in the Sempill > case after learning > that he was on the verge of being appointed Greece's > aeronautical > adviser in March 1926. > > The Security Services advised the Foreign Office > and the British > Embassy in Athens that Britain could not be seen to > endorse Sempill's > appointment because of his past activities. > > However, public prosecutors decided not to press > charges against > Sempill as the evidence against him involved > photographic copies of > letters written by Sempill to the attache and the > government would > have to reveal how it got this information and > disclose its sources. > > Regarding the flying boat incident, prosecutors > believed it would be > hard to take action against Sempill as he served as > an occasional > adviser to the company, and the employees he talked > to might not have > actually considered the project as being top secret. > > Sempill, who was frustrated by what he regarded > was a whispering > campaign designed to stop him from getting the > appointment in Greece, > demanded to see security chiefs. > > At the meeting they told him that they knew of his > links to the > Japanese attache. The documents say Sempill then > realized that he had > been lucky to get away without any charges and > stopped his complaints. > > The Daily Telegraph on Thursday described Sempill > as a "pillar of the > British establishment" and called him one of the > founders of the > Royal Flying Corps in World War I and that his > father was an aide to > King George V. > > Sempill was chairman of the Royal Aeronautical > Society in 1926 and > served as a member of the Royal Naval Air Service > between 1939 and > 1941, the newspaper said. > > Japan awarded Sempill the Order of the Rising Sun > in 1961, it said. > > (Kyodo News) > ____________________ > > Click the link below to view this article and > related discussions on > Japan Today > http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=189487 > ____________________ > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Send your FREE holiday greetings online! > http://greetings.yahoo.com > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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