end lay next to Peter in the bed. This was no accident. The gas mantle and
the burner had been carefully removed from the bracket and placed on the
dressing table; the rubber tubing had been deliberately attached and brought
to the bed, and on the dressing table was a sealed envelope addressed to
Robert. Alone and in distress, Peter Walter Le Rossignol took his life in the
early hours of 26 May 1934, and considering the relationship between his
father and Fritz Haber, he chose a path of utter irony … gas poisoning. The
story of the ‘fathers of fixation’ had suffered a second suicide, but by leaving a
window wide open Peter had ensured that the excess gas would escape and
hopefully not endanger anyone else in the house. His actions were clearly well
planned for later it emerged that Peter had purchased the rubber tubing rather
than ‘borrowing’ it from one of the laboratories which might have raised some
suspicion as gas poisoning was often a preferred route for those considering
suicide in those days. Equally, by leaving the bedroom door unlocked, was
this a cry for help that went tragically wrong?
P. C. Palmer and Dr. Youngman were called to Carlyle Road, and by
midday the news was conveyed to Robert and Emily. The same evening saw a
brief report on page 5 of the Cambridge Daily News under the headline;
‘UNDERGRADUATE GASSED Cambridge Landlady’s Discovery’.
Establishing the cause of death as coal gas poisoning, there was no need for a
post-mortem examination, but an inquest was set for the following Monday,
28 May, under Deputy Borough Coroner Mr. W. R. Wallis, at the Mill Road
Institution in Cambridge. The inquest sat without a jury and witnesses were
Ms Peters, P. C. Palmer and Inspector Bellamy for the Police, Dr.
Youngman, Mr. Oddy and Peter’s tutor at Sidney the Rev. B.T.D. Smith,
Mr. Metters from the Cambridge Gas Company, and Robert. By the
morning of the inquest, Peter’s death had been reported nationally in both
the Daily Mirror (‘UNDERGRADUATE’S FATE’) and The Times
(‘UNDERGRADUATE FOUND DEAD’) but as yet with little detail.
During the inquest the Coroner read the contents of Peter’s letter to the
court. Described later in some of the press as a ‘pathetic last note’, it began;
‘Dear Mummy and Daddy’, and continued, ‘I cannot go on like this any
longer. Now I have made a mess of the chemistry paper. I am a failure’. If he
went on, the letter continued, he would not only be a disgrace to himself but
also a drag on his friends, who had all been so good to him. Referring to
Robert and Emily, he said that he could never thank them enough for what
they had done for him, but somehow, he had felt ‘this coming for years’ as
there was something in his mental make-up which made it impossible for him
to make the best of his life. The letter concluded ‘Please try to forgive me …
My love to you both, Peter.’
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
387
the burner had been carefully removed from the bracket and placed on the
dressing table; the rubber tubing had been deliberately attached and brought
to the bed, and on the dressing table was a sealed envelope addressed to
Robert. Alone and in distress, Peter Walter Le Rossignol took his life in the
early hours of 26 May 1934, and considering the relationship between his
father and Fritz Haber, he chose a path of utter irony … gas poisoning. The
story of the ‘fathers of fixation’ had suffered a second suicide, but by leaving a
window wide open Peter had ensured that the excess gas would escape and
hopefully not endanger anyone else in the house. His actions were clearly well
planned for later it emerged that Peter had purchased the rubber tubing rather
than ‘borrowing’ it from one of the laboratories which might have raised some
suspicion as gas poisoning was often a preferred route for those considering
suicide in those days. Equally, by leaving the bedroom door unlocked, was
this a cry for help that went tragically wrong?
P. C. Palmer and Dr. Youngman were called to Carlyle Road, and by
midday the news was conveyed to Robert and Emily. The same evening saw a
brief report on page 5 of the Cambridge Daily News under the headline;
‘UNDERGRADUATE GASSED Cambridge Landlady’s Discovery’.
Establishing the cause of death as coal gas poisoning, there was no need for a
post-mortem examination, but an inquest was set for the following Monday,
28 May, under Deputy Borough Coroner Mr. W. R. Wallis, at the Mill Road
Institution in Cambridge. The inquest sat without a jury and witnesses were
Ms Peters, P. C. Palmer and Inspector Bellamy for the Police, Dr.
Youngman, Mr. Oddy and Peter’s tutor at Sidney the Rev. B.T.D. Smith,
Mr. Metters from the Cambridge Gas Company, and Robert. By the
morning of the inquest, Peter’s death had been reported nationally in both
the Daily Mirror (‘UNDERGRADUATE’S FATE’) and The Times
(‘UNDERGRADUATE FOUND DEAD’) but as yet with little detail.
During the inquest the Coroner read the contents of Peter’s letter to the
court. Described later in some of the press as a ‘pathetic last note’, it began;
‘Dear Mummy and Daddy’, and continued, ‘I cannot go on like this any
longer. Now I have made a mess of the chemistry paper. I am a failure’. If he
went on, the letter continued, he would not only be a disgrace to himself but
also a drag on his friends, who had all been so good to him. Referring to
Robert and Emily, he said that he could never thank them enough for what
they had done for him, but somehow, he had felt ‘this coming for years’ as
there was something in his mental make-up which made it impossible for him
to make the best of his life. The letter concluded ‘Please try to forgive me …
My love to you both, Peter.’
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
387