THE MONTAGU CASE SIR,—Mr. Ian Gilmour's review of Mr. Wildeblood's
book gives the most graphic and succinct account of what has become known as the Montagu Case that I have yet read. It is, as he says, a repellent story which throws a vivid light on the methods employed by the 'Authorities' when they are out for blue blood. Indeed their handling of this case would surely have commanded the wholehearted admiration of the late Mr. Vyshinsky. Nothing was left undone to build up a situation in which an unprejudiced trial became impossible.
Several questions remain unanswered. Who authorised the unwarranted search of the houses of Lord Montagu and Mr. Pitt-Rivers? Who decided that only three out of twenty- seven men accused by tainted witnesses should be prosecuted—and why? Who put the false entry in Lord Montagu's passport? And by whose authority were Reynolds and McNally grilled for hours at an Air Force station? There is reason to believe that their 'confes-
sions' were extorted from them without the sanction or knowledge of the Air Council; and that, when the Secretary of State subsequently heard of it, he rightly rescinded the promise made to these aircraftmen that, if they 'came clean,' they would be retained in the Royal Air Force.—Yours faithfully,
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