employment conflicts with what one thinks one would have done in his place,
or with what one might think is the more obvious route. Why did it take
Robert so long after his release from Ruhleben to seek re-assurance from
HMG? The dates on the various letters over the period show that lines of
communication were available to pass information between London and
Berlin in just a few days. But after his release in March 1915 it was eighteen
months before he was to enquire whether ‘any disapproval on the part of the
British Government existed’ regarding his position there.
67 One answer may
lie in the confusion surrounding this whole area. HMG clearly had no policy
in place at the time that could be used as guidance by officers of the neutral
powers to advise released prisoners, and as Ambassador Gerard recalls in his
letter, Robert’s enquiry was one of many which began to arise at the time—
albeit more significant than most. The lack of a policy therefore, probably
translated into a lack of obligation on the part of released prisoners to
immediately seek approval for their employment, especially so in light of the
advice Gerard and his officers were independently dispensing. Or maybe it
was because Robert, who after ‘stepping into the shadows’ and avoiding
attention, was beginning to feel some discomfort with the ever-increasing
engagement of the ‘Auer’ with the German war effort, or indeed from his
former association with Haber whose involvement in the war was becoming
more and more prominent.
But there was another element in play, one which he never revealed to
HMG, for Robert was now eligible to receive monies from the private contract he had made with Haber on 01 May 1908.
68 Robert’s original
engagement with this contract was as an ambitious young man in a time of
peace. But now, older, the father of two children, and witness to the terrible
suffering the exploitation of this work was causing,
69 within the wider context
of returning to the UK at some time, it would not be unreasonable for him to
want to discover the British ‘establishment’s’ official view of his position in
Germany and whether in any way he had become ‘tainted’ by association.
Whatever Robert’s reasons for the delay, his enquiry was to establish HMG’s
opinion that—despite their misleading association of him with explosives—
no discredit should be attached to a British subject for having worked—in
peace time—in an area that was now entirely counter to British interests.
However, because of his contract with Haber, the First World War was about
to make Robert Le Rossignol a very wealthy young man.
70
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303
or with what one might think is the more obvious route. Why did it take
Robert so long after his release from Ruhleben to seek re-assurance from
HMG? The dates on the various letters over the period show that lines of
communication were available to pass information between London and
Berlin in just a few days. But after his release in March 1915 it was eighteen
months before he was to enquire whether ‘any disapproval on the part of the
British Government existed’ regarding his position there.
67 One answer may
lie in the confusion surrounding this whole area. HMG clearly had no policy
in place at the time that could be used as guidance by officers of the neutral
powers to advise released prisoners, and as Ambassador Gerard recalls in his
letter, Robert’s enquiry was one of many which began to arise at the time—
albeit more significant than most. The lack of a policy therefore, probably
translated into a lack of obligation on the part of released prisoners to
immediately seek approval for their employment, especially so in light of the
advice Gerard and his officers were independently dispensing. Or maybe it
was because Robert, who after ‘stepping into the shadows’ and avoiding
attention, was beginning to feel some discomfort with the ever-increasing
engagement of the ‘Auer’ with the German war effort, or indeed from his
former association with Haber whose involvement in the war was becoming
more and more prominent.
But there was another element in play, one which he never revealed to
HMG, for Robert was now eligible to receive monies from the private contract he had made with Haber on 01 May 1908.
68 Robert’s original
engagement with this contract was as an ambitious young man in a time of
peace. But now, older, the father of two children, and witness to the terrible
suffering the exploitation of this work was causing,
69 within the wider context
of returning to the UK at some time, it would not be unreasonable for him to
want to discover the British ‘establishment’s’ official view of his position in
Germany and whether in any way he had become ‘tainted’ by association.
Whatever Robert’s reasons for the delay, his enquiry was to establish HMG’s
opinion that—despite their misleading association of him with explosives—
no discredit should be attached to a British subject for having worked—in
peace time—in an area that was now entirely counter to British interests.
However, because of his contract with Haber, the First World War was about
to make Robert Le Rossignol a very wealthy young man.
70
14 Robert’s War 1914–1918
303