-Caveat Lector- The plot thickens
The assassination attempt on Edward VIII in 1936 was dismissed at the time as the act of a lone madman. But was it really the result of a complicated Nazi scheme? And did MI5 know about it? Andrew Cook looks at the evidence Andrew Cook Friday January 3, 2003 The Guardian Edward VIII is perhaps best remembered today for his suspected Nazi sympathies and the abdication crisis that brought a sudden end to his short reign. It is now long forgotten that his time on the throne might have been even briefer had an incident on July 16 1936 had a more sinister outcome. Now, 67 years later, new research and the belated release to the public record office of one of the previously closed files on the affair raises new questions about what actually occurred that day and why. The morning of July 16 was sunny and the crowds lining Constitution Hill were three to four deep. Like many in the crowd, Alice Lawrence had been waiting patiently for a glimpse of the king's procession as it returned to Buckingham Palace from a colours ceremony in Hyde Park. Waiting for a sign that the parade was on its way, those around her had their eyes trained on Wellington Arch - apart from one short, stocky man in a well-worn, brown suit to her immediate left, who every so often turned to look over his shoulder towards the railings of Green Park. It was there, earlier on, that she had first noticed him talking intently to a tall well-dressed man with a moustache and hat. At around 12.25 the sound of distant cheering told the crowd that the king had left Hyde Park and was only a few minutes away. The man in the brown suit was now gazing at something in his left hand and tapping his thigh with the newspaper he held in the other. At 12.30 the military band leading the parade emerged from Wellington Arch as rippled applause and cheering broke out at the top of Constitution Hill. Following close behind was the king on horseback, in full-dress scarlet tunic and bearskin. As the king's horse passed Mrs Lawrence, the man's newspaper fell to the ground, revealing a revolver, which he raised and levelled at the king. Without thinking, Mrs Lawrence instinctively grabbed his arm and cried out. Alerted by the cry, Special Constable Anthony Dick, who was a few feet away, spun around and seeing the revolver struck the man's lower arm with his fist, causing the gun to fly out of his hand and into the roadway. The man, identified as George Andrew McMahon, was taken to Hyde Park Police Station, where he was cautioned by Chief Inspector Sands of Scotland Yard. During the car journey McMahon had told Sands that he had no intention of harming the king, and "only did it as a protest". A body search yielded an envelope containing a picture postcard of the king along with two rounds of ammunition for his revolver, and the newspaper he had dropped. On examination, the words, "May I Love You" were found pencilled on the back page. One of the first telegrams Edward received that afternoon on his safe return to Buckingham Palace was from Adolph Hitler, who told him: "I have just received the news of the abominable attempt on the life of your Majesty, and send my heartiest congratulations on your escape." Although McMahon made no further statements that day, and only cursory inquiries by the police had been made, the king was told that evening that Scotland Yard had, "unravelled the mystery". McMahon, he was informed, was, "a frustrated Irish journalist who had convinced himself that the secretary of state for home affairs had conspired to prevent him from publishing a journal called the Human Gazette". His action was apparently not an attempt to harm the king, but to publicise this perceived injustice. Had the Yard really unravelled the mystery or merely rushed to judgment? Special Branch later established that McMahon's real name was Jerome Bannigan and that he was suspected to have Nazi sympathies. Several members of the public later came forward to confirm that they had seen McMahon selling the fascist newspaper the Black Shirt in the Paddington area. When McMahon finally appeared at the Old Bailey in September, he gave a detailed account of what he maintained was behind the incident. According to him he had been approached in October the previous year by an English intermediary who introduced him to representatives of "a foreign power" outside their embassy. A further meeting took place at which they discussed the injustices in Ireland and suggested that he could help their cause. McMahon maintained that he had reported this to MI5 and then kept in touch with them. Some months later, not long after the death of George V, it was first suggested by those he had met in October that he become involved in an assassination attempt on the new King Edward. McMahon maintained that he never had any intention of doing the king any harm and was merely going through the motions while informing MI5 about the plot. He was, he claimed, approached by an MI5 officer on the Monday before the incident. The Times echoed the widely held belief that McMahon's "melodramatic" story was, "reared as an afterthought" in his defence. This view now seems unlikely in light of inquiries made by Alfred Kerstein, McMahon's solicitor. He had not only been in correspondence with the Metropolitan Police and the war office in an attempt to corroborate McMahon's story, but had received confirmation from Chief Inspector Sands that McMahon had indeed been in communication with MI5. Sands, however, had refused to comment further in terms of when the meeting with the MI5 officer took place or the information that had been imparted. It is also clear that Kerstein had established the identity of this officer. As a consequence he subpoenaed Major "K C" to appear at McMahon's Old Bailey trial, although in the event he did not appear before the jury. If McMahon acted alone, who was the "tall, well-dressed man" with whom he was in conversation minutes before his arrest? If MI5 was aware of McMahon in the context of the story he told the jury, what had he told them and to what extent, if any, had they any knowledge that something might occur on July 16? According to the police, the words, "May I love you", found on the discarded newspaper, referred to McMahon's wife. However, Rose McMahon was rarely referred to as May. Besides, she was not the only May in McMahon's life. Had the nine other occupants who lived at McMahon's Westbourne Terrace address been interviewed, one May Galley might well have attracted some attention. A close friend of a small group of German speaking Austrian �migr�s, May and her associates were seen with McMahon on several occasions. At least one of her �migr� friends had been a member of the Austrian Communist party and would briefly come to the attention of MI5 two years later in connection with Soviet espionage activities at Woolwich Arsenal. It is clear from the notes McMahon gave to Kerstein about the "foreign power" that he was referring to Nazi Germany. However, none of the names he wrote down match any on the German diplomatic list for 1936 or any other German individuals residing in Britain who were known to be associated with the regime. It would therefore seem that those named were either figments of his imagination or were alternatively individuals posing as Germans. If the "Nazis" McMahon was in contact with were in fact Austrians, a whole new complexion is cast on the story. In the final analysis, if anyone was seeking to manipulate an impressionable malcontent with three minor convictions for fraud, whose story in the event of arrest would be unlikely to be believed, who better than George Andrew McMahon? Whether McMahon, the classic "lone- nut" assassin, ever had any intention of pulling the trigger may never be known. The full knowledge of his true intentions died with him in 1970. However, it now seems likely that the story he told the Old Bailey jury may have been the tip of a much larger iceberg. Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,867861,00.html A<:>E<:>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article has to stand on its own merits. 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