Thomas Cadett

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(7 June 189831 March 1982) was a British journalist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' and was later a

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

correspondent based in Paris. who worked for the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

Life and career

Thomas Tucker-Edwardes Cadett was born in London on 7 June 1898, the son of Herbert Cadett and educated at News College, Worthing and at Cranleigh. He joined a Territorial Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in 1914 and later attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

. He joined the staff of ''

'' in 1924 and worked in many different departments, at one stage being the assistant to the Foreign Editor. In 1931, he covered the beginning of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

. In July 1937, he was appointed chief correspondent in Paris. In 1940, he covered the German invasion of France. The same year he began his war service and worked for the F section of the

(SOE) until 1942. He recruited

Georges Bégué Georges Pierre André Bégué (22 November 1911 – 18 December 1993), Social Security Death Index code named Bombproof, was a French engineer and agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (S ...

He flew into Berlin to cover the Nazi surrender in 1945, ending a radio dispatch minutes after the end 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 opposing ...

in Europe with the following words: "some of us admitted to a certain temptation to pity for the conquered, but each time memories from Warsaw and Buchenwald came crowding in - to bring the realisation that this was justice; that pity was a selfish and sentimental notion". He watched the official signing of the surrender at a schoolhouse in

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, northeastern France, which served as the advance headquarters of the supreme commander in Europe, General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. Cadett said the signing, was carried out "on a cold and businesslike basis." After the signing, he said General Gustav Jodl, of Germany, spoke to say the Germans had given themselves up "for better or worse into the victors' hands". His pieces began 'Hello London' as was the style at the time. He also covered the trial of Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

He retired from the BBC in 1963. He lived in

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Reddit ...

, Warwickshire with his Swedish wife Hellis until he died. He was made OBE in 1956 and CBE in 1962.The Times, Thomas Cadett Obituary 3 April 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadett, Thomas 1898 births 1982 deaths British male journalists BBC newsreaders and journalists Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Times people British reporters and correspondents British radio journalists British Special Operations Executive personnel