London Controlling Section - Personnel

Personnel

Eventually, not including those who were attached, there were 7 primary members of the LCS:

• Lieutenant-Colonel (later Colonel) John Henry Bevan, MC (April 5, 1894-December 1978) Controlling Officer.
• Major (later Colonel) Ronald Evelyn Leslie Wingate, CIE (1889-August 31, 1978), Deputy Controlling Officer
• Flight Lieutenant (later Wing Commander) Dennis Wheatley, RAFVR. (January 8, 1897–November 10, 1977)
• Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Harold Peteval.
• Commander James Gordon Arbuthnott, RN.
• Major Neil Gordon Clark
• Major Derrick Morley

One American, Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) William H. Baumer (c.1909-1989), assigned to the US War Plans Division, was seconded to the LCS and served there for Operation Fortitude and subsequent operations.

As head of the LCS, John Bevan would clearly rank as one of the four preeminent deception planners in World War II along with Dudley Clarke, Peter Fleming, and Newman Smith. Along with Bevan’s talents, he was aided by his friendships with General Lord Ismay, who acted as Military Deputy Secretary of the War Cabinet and was Chief of the Chiefs of Staff Committee within the War Cabinet, Sir Stewart Menzies, who was Chief of MI6, and Sir Alan Brooke, who was Chief of the Imperial General Staff - Bevan dined with him 2 or 3 times a month. Bevan also had direct contact with Churchill and indirect contact through Churchill’s Chief of Staff, Ismay.

Wingate, the Deputy Controlling Officer, became a member of the LCS through the efforts of Ismay. Wingate and Ismay previously had lengthy associations with each other in service of the Crown in India.

The LCS had considerable clout with Churchill, as he had direct interest in deception, and through both Bevan and Wingate being friends with Ismay, Churchill’s Chief of Staff. Lord Charles Wilson Moran, said Ismay was “the Pepys at Churchill’s court, the ‘perfect oil-can.’”

Dennis Wheatley, in his forties, was a prolific, well-known, best-selling author. While initially only a Flight Lieutenant, he often put his notoriety and skill with words to use in dealing with high-ranking officers. Additionally, his writing skills were put to good use in writing up cover and deception plans.