Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington
OBE | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Oxford | |
In office 8 October 1959 – 10 March 1966 | |
Preceded by | Lawrence Turner |
Succeeded by | Evan Luard |
In office 18 June 1970 – 20 September 1974 | |
Preceded by | Evan Luard |
Succeeded by | Evan Luard |
Personal details | |
Born | Christopher Montague Woodhouse 11 May 1917 |
Died | 13 February 2001 | (aged 83)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Lady Davidema Bulwer-Lytton
(m. 1945; died 1995) |
Children | 3 (including Christopher, 6th Baron Terrington) |
Education | Winchester College |
Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch/service | British Army |
Years of service | 1939–1945 |
Rank | Colonel |
Unit | |
Battles/wars | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Christopher Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington,
Terrington was an expert on Greek affairs after he first got involved with the
Early life and military service
Montague Woodhouse was the son of
In September 1942 Woodhouse was parachuted to mainland Greece as the Second-in-Command of the Harling Force, headed by Eddie Myers, whose task was to blow up the Gorgopotamos bridge. Following the success of this operation Myers and Woodhouse were ordered by SOE Cairo to stay on in mainland Greece and form the British Military Mission. Initially their presence had only been intended for Operation Harling. Woodhouse, being one of only a few British officers on the mission who could speak Greek, was often sent off alone to make contact with political elements in Athens. Due to his imposing appearance of being tall with burning ginger beard this was no mean feat, but he succeeded in numerous trips into the Athenian suburbs, often still wearing British Army uniform. After Myers' dismissal in July 1943, at the request of the Foreign Office, Woodhouse became the head of the British Military Mission.
Government service
After the conclusion of the Second World War, Woodhouse served as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Athens, Greece, until 1946, whereupon he returned to Britain, and served in a variety of industrial and academic appointments. In 1951, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
From 1951 to 1952, he worked at the British Embassy in
Operation Boot
In 1941, the
Later in 1953 a covert mission to remove
Woodhouse proposed Operation Boot to the Eisenhower administration. It would use "disenchanted" Iranian elements of the army, the clergy and the political parties to oust Mossadegh. Together with the CIA he instigated and planned the "bazaaris" of Tehran to demonstrate against the Mossadegh administration.[6] Woodhouse, through the Shah's sister, encouraged the ruler not to abandon the throne.[7]
Parliamentary career
Woodhouse entered
He was defeated by Evan Luard in the 1966 Labour landslide and then worked at the Confederation of British Industry until 1970, when he was once again returned to Parliament for Oxford. He retained his seat in the February 1974 general election, but lost it (again to Evan Luard) in October.
Woodhouse succeeded to the barony on the death of his elder brother David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington, in 1998. He lost his seat in the House of Lords in the following year as a result of the changes introduced by the House of Lords Act 1999.
Marriage and children
Lord Terrington married Davidema Crichton, Countess of Erne (née Lady Davidema Katharine Cynthia Mary Millicent Bulwer-Lytton (1909–1995), daughter of Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton and widow of John Crichton, 5th Earl Erne, on 28 August 1945.[8] They had three children:
- Christopher Richard James Woodhouse, 6th Baron Terrington (born 20 September 1946)
- Hon. Nicholas Michael John Woodhouse (born 27 February 1949)
- Hon. Emma Davina Mary Woodhouse (born April 1954)
Writings
C. M. Woodhouse was the author of several books, including:
- Apple of Discord: A Survey of Recent Greek Politics in their International Setting (Hutchinson & Co., 1948)
- "Το μήλο της έριδος". Αθήνα: Εξάντας, 1976
- Modern Greece: A Short History (1968)
- The Philhellenes (1971)
- Capodistria: The Founder of Greek Independence (Oxford University Press, 1973)
- The Struggle for Greece (1976)
- Karamanlis: The Restorer of Greek Democracy (1982)
- Something Ventured (1982) autobiography
- The Rise and Fall of the Greek Colonels (1985)
- George Gemistos Plethon - The Last of the Hellenes (1986)
- "Rhigas Velestinlis: the proto-Martyr of the Greek Revolution (1995) ISBN 960-7120-09-4
Shortly before his death, Woodhouse, who succeeded to the family title in 1998, completed the translation into English of the 10-volume "History of the European Spirit", by his friend, the former Prime Minister of Greece,
Arms
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References
- ^ Clogg, Richard (20 February 2001). "Monty Woodhouse (obituary)". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ Robert Fisk (8 February 2009). "Iran: A nation still haunted by its bloody past". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-470-18549-0. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
- ^ "With Sten guns and sovereigns Britain and US saved Iran's throne for the Shah"
- ^ Mary Ann Heiss in Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, pp. 178–200
- ^ Robert Fisk (30 November 2011). "Sanctions are only a small part of the history that makes Iranians hate the UK". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ Robert Fisk (30 November 2011). "Sanctions are only a small part of the history that makes Iranians hate the UK". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- required.)
- ^ Clogg, Richard (20 February 2001). "Obituary: Monty Woodhouse". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1956.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Montague Woodhouse
- The last interview with Professor C.M. Woodhouse
- Double Cross Deal a new (2012) 45-minute Discovery Channel documentary about the Greek partisans during World War II, in which Terrington's exploits play a prominent role.