Leslie Harrison Lambert (11 November 1883 – 13 December 1941), known in public as A. J. Alan, was an English magician, intelligence officer, short story writer and radio broadcaster. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he worked in naval intelligence 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 ...

Life and career

Lambert, son of Thomas Harrison Lambert and his wife Kate, was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and went to

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

before training to be a surveyor. He then learned to be a magician and became a successful member of The Magic Circle, performing especially at society events. Lambert became a radio ham and at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he volunteered to work at a coastguard station in Norfolk which was a centre for intercepting German radio transmissions. By November 1914 he was employed by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

at Naval Intelligence

Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...

although even until after his death official records said he had been working at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

since 1909. , giving National Archive and Churchill Archive sources HW3/35, HW3/6, HW3/185, ADM223/769, Clarke Papers, Denniston Papers In 1919 the staff at Room 40 became part of the new

Government Code and Cypher School Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

and Lambert was still working there at the outbreak of

. He was one of the many people from GC&CS transferred to

by which time he was an important official in naval military intelligence. At Bletchley Park he was in

Hut 8 Hut 8 was a section in the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park (the British World War II codebreaking station, located in Buckinghamshire) tasked with solving German naval (Kriegsmarine) Enigma messages. The section was l ...

and he was known to

R V Jones Reginald Victor Jones , FRSE, LLD (29 September 1911 – 17 December 1997) was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in by solving scientific and technical pr ...

who said that "in contrast to his outrageously unconventional stories" that he led his life on "a monotonously regular timetable". Lambert married but had no children. He lived at

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, London and had a second home at

Potter Heigham Potter Heigham is a village and civil parish on the River Thurne in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated north-east of the city of Norwich on the A149 road, and within the Broads. The village is known for its mediaeval bridge and the ...

for sailing his boat on the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...

. He was an amateur radio operator using call sign G2ST and an authority on food and wine.

Radio broadcaster

Lambert contacted a member of the then

British Broadcasting Company The British Broadcasting Company Ltd. (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Genera ...

to suggest he might tell one of his own short stories on the radio. This was accepted and so, as A. J. Alan, he broadcast ''My Adventure in Jermyn Street'', on 31 January 1924. Following his immediate success, he quickly became one of the most popular broadcasting personalities of the time. He went to considerable trouble over writing each story, taking a couple of months over each one, and only broadcasting about five times a year. He carefully constructed an apparently extemporary, conversational, style making his stories seem like anecdotes concerning strange events that had happened to him. The endings were whimsical and unexpected. Contrary to the common belief that his stories were told "off the cuff", Lambert took immense care over his broadcasts which were, of course, live. He used cards rather than papers to avoid rustling noises and kept a candle lit in case the lights failed. He always wore a

dinner jacket Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element ...

and Stuart Hibberd described him as "a neat figure in perfectly cut evening dress, with eye glass and a slim black brief case". It was known that "A. J. Alan" was not his true name but only once, in 1933, was his identity guessed when an old school friend, by then living in Jamaica, recognised his voice. Many of his stories were subsequently printed in newspapers and magazines and were included in anthologies of short stories. Three collections of his stories have been published. From 1937 his health was not good so he reduced his radio work and made his last broadcast on 21 March 1940.

Publications

Books of stories

*''Good Evening, Everyone!'', Hutchinson (1928) *''A.J. Alan's Second Book'', Hutchinson (1933) *''The Best of A.J. Alan'' (edited by Kenelm Foss), Richards Press (1954)

Recordings

*''Percy the Prawn'',

Regal Zonophone Regal may refer to: Companies * Regal Beloit, usually referred to as Regal, an American manufacturer of electric motors * Regal Cinema (disambiguation), several cinemas of that name * Regal Cinemas, a major American theater chain * Regal Cinemas ...

MR1118 (1933) *''Hilarion the Fish / The Origin of the Horse Marines'', Regal Zonophone MR991 (1933)

References

External links

Stories by A J Alan
at

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(note, might still be copyright in other countries) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alan, AJ People educated at Rugby School People from Nottingham Bletchley Park people English short story writers Ghost story writers 1883 births 1941 deaths 20th-century pseudonymous writers Anonymity pseudonyms