Sir Herbert Stanley Marchant

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

OBE (18 May 1906 – 8 August 1990) was a schoolmaster, at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

the

codebreaking Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

centre in World War II, and then a diplomat. He was ambassador to Cuba (1960–63) and Tunisia (1963–66); remembered for replying to British newspapers during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

that “Everything is perfectly quiet here” (in Cuba). Marchant was born in Cambridge and attended

Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

, before studying modern languages at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was an assistant master at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

1928–39, teaching French and German, and later Russian. He was at

in World War II, where he was the deputy head of

Hut 3 Hut 3 was a section of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park during World War II. It retained the name for its functions when it moved into Block D. It produced military intelligence codenamed ULTRA from the decrypts ...

from 1943 until the end of the war. The head

Eric Jones Eric Jones may refer to: *Sir Eric Malcolm Jones (1907–1986), British intelligence officer * Eric Jones (economic historian) (born 1936), British-Australian economist and historian * Eric Jones (footballer, born 1915) (1915–1985), English foot ...

had taken over sole responsibility from 1942, after personal rivalries between the original staff of Hut 3.Briggs (2011) p 9, 76, 91-92, 136 After the war he was in the Foreign Service 1946–66. Then he became Assistant Director of the

Institute of Race Relations The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a think tank based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1958 in order to publish research on race relations worldwide, and in 1972 was transformed into an "anti-racist think tank". Proposed by ''Sund ...

1966–68, and United Kingdom representative on the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 1969–73. He married Diana Selway in 1937, they had one son. He was awarded the OBE 1946, CMG 1957 &

1963.

Books by H.S. Marchant

*Scratch a Russian (Drummond, London, 1937) Travel in the Soviet Union *His Excellency Regrets (Kimber, London, 1980) a novel

References

*Obituary in ''The Times'', London of 13 August 1990 page 12. *''Secret Days: Code-breaking in Bletchley Park'' by

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

(2011, Frontline Books, London) *Who’s Who 2013 (London) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, Herbert 1906 births 1990 deaths Bletchley Park people Members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Tunisia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Cuba Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at The Perse School Schoolteachers from Cambridgeshire English travel writers Writers about the Soviet Union British officials of the United Nations Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire Teachers at Harrow School