12th January, 1971
Dear Miss Alexander,
A note on the background of the Broome Action.
This evening I had to tea Mr John Barry. Barry
is a member of the Sunday Times "Insight" Team.
After a time we came on the subject of the PQ.17 Libel
Action, and since he at once stated that he was fully
aware of the background of the case, I asked him what he
meant and why.
Barry stated that the object of the case was purely to
get revenge on me, and that it was not Broome's idea. He
had, he said, talked about it with Norman Denning
(Vice-Admiral Sir Norman Denning) and in the course of
that conversation Denning had told him that "they" had
also approached him and asked for him to join in the
plot. I asked who "they" were, and Barry said that
Denning had talked of "the Winns" -- the Lord
Justice and brother Godfrey.
Denning had continued in the conversation by adding
that he had rejected their request. Up to that time I had
not myself mentioned the Winns, or Godfrey, in
conversation with John Barry,
Yours sincerely,
(David Irving)
Miss M. Alexander,
Rubinstein, Nash & Co.,
6 Raymond Buildings,
Grays Inn,
London WC1
[ Index
to PQ.17 Libel Action
]
Captain
J E Broome, DSO, RN, the
escort commander in this 1942 North Russian convoy
disaster, sued David Irving in libel after the
publication by Cassell and Co. Ltd. of this book in
October 1968. The case came to trial in February
1970; after seventeen days the Jury awarded Broome
what was then one of the largest sums of damages,
including punitive damages, in history.
write
to David Irving