Conspiracy theory
Sir: May I echo Lord Portsmouth's appeal for some public enquiry into the labyrinthine 'repatriations controversy' (Letters, 24 January)? Not of course that we are likely to get one. But if such a care- ful investigation of all the evidence took place, I can guarantee two things. Firstly it would find the latest allegations of Estab- lishment skulduggery over the Aldington libre just another twist to what has become the most wearisome conspiracy theory in modern history. Secondly, it would con- clude that the version of this saga presented in the Cowgill report and my own recent book, A Looking Glass Tragedy, was, how- ever boringly, correct and based on the facts.
However there was one 'fact' in your fan- ciful review by Richard Lamb which should be corrected straightaway. Confidently stat- ing that 'the facts are plain', Mr Lamb repeats the claim that Field Marshal Alexander 'countermanded' the repatria- tion orders, wanting to send the Yugoslays to Italy and the Cossacks to Germany. He did nothing of the kind. It is a pity people should persist in recycling this particularly misleading bit of the 'conspiracy version' when all the relevant facts, as with so much else about this story, have long since been
LETTERS
sorted out.
By the way, whatever happened to all those charges that Macmillan was the mas- termind of a 'major war crime'? I know the conspiracy theorists have found new fish to fry, but shouldn't they explain why he seems to have dropped out of the frame?
Christopher Booker
The Old Rectory, Litton, Bath, Avon
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