Denis Arthur Greenhill, Baron Greenhill of Harrow (7 November 1913 – 8 November 2000) was the British Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1969 to 1973; a respected expert on the US, Europe and the Soviet Union, he was actively involved in setting postwar Britain's role in the world in a new direction, away from its imperial past and a compliant involvement with the United States towards a more active engagement in Europe. He served under three prime ministers,

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

, Sir

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

and

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

. Noted for his poor treatment of the Chagos Islanders in August 1966, along with Sir Paul Gore-Booth, forcibly removed some 2,000 natives from their land referring to them as "some Tarzans or Men Fridays".

Education and war record

Greenhill was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. From 1935 to 1939, he worked for the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the Middle East, Far East, India and North Africa. He was promoted colonel in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and was mentioned in dispatches twice. His wife, Angela (née McCulloch), whom he married in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in 1941, died in 2013.

Career

He joined 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 * United ...

in 1946 with the support of the Labour Foreign Secretary

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and ...

, who thought him an expert on oil transportation. He served as counsellor (and later minister) at the British Embassy in Washington, at the time of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

(1962) and the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1963). As Britain's special envoy to

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(1972, 1976) he sought unsuccessfully to end

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia (previously Southern Rhodesia), a British crown colony in southern Africa that had respon ...

. He was Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) at the time of the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities in 1973. His appointment as PUS had been regarded with scepticism by older hands in the

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

establishment. In the event, he was liked and respected by colleagues, his managerial skills were valued and his advice was highly regarded by ministers. Created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 1974, he sat as a crossbencher. This notorious cable was sent from the UK mission to the UN to the Colonial Office head Denis Greenhill. He responded, by hand, as follows, "Unfortunately along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Man Fridays whose origins are obscure, and who are hopefully being wished on to Mauritius etc. When this has been done I agree we must be very tough and a submission is being done accordingly.
English: "Unfortunately along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Man Fridays whose origins are obscure, and who are hopefully being wished on to Mauritius etc. When this has been done I agree we must be very tough and a submission is being done accordingly. "
His later years included roles as governor of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and as a director of BAT Industries,

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers ...

Group, Wellcome Foundation, Clerical Medical and General Life Assurance, S.G. Warburg and Leyland International.

Honours and arms

In the 1942 New Year's Honours he was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) In the Order of St Michael & St George he was appointed a Companion (CMG) in 1960, knighted as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1967, and promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in 1972. On 31 January 1974 he was created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Greenhill of Harrow, of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Bibliography

* D.Greenhill, ''More By Accident'', (New York, 1992)

References

External links

Interview with Denis Greenhill, Lord Greenhill of Harrow

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1996
FCO's Brief History of the Office of Permanent Under-Secretary of State and its Holders

Obituary appearing in The Guardian

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenhill, Denis 1913 births 2000 deaths People educated at Bishop's Stortford College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford BBC governors British Army personnel of World War II Chairs of the Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom) Crossbench life peers Diplomatic peers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of HM Diplomatic Service Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Engineers officers Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs Life peers created by Elizabeth II 20th-century British diplomats