Ronnie Stonham

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Ronald Leonard Stonham (9 July 1927 – 5 August 2014) was the Special Assistant to the Director of Personnel at the BBC until 1985, later caught up in the scandal over MI5 monitoring of potential staff. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, from where he joined the Post Office Engineering Department in 1944.^[1][2]

Biography

In 1948 he was granted an Emergency Commission in the

Postings to Malaya and Germany followed during the childhood of their three daughters. Stonham became increasingly involved in intelligence-based jobs as he was promoted through to Lieutenant Colonel, taking command of 4th Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment in Herford until 1971. The two years following command were with the Defence Intelligence Staff at the Ministry of Defence, spending time with the American forces in Vietnam during the "Vietnamisation" programme, also visiting Laos and Cambodia.

Promoted to Colonel in 1973, he was appointed Chief Instructor at the School of Signals in

His last tour, before retiring in July 1982, was as Brigadier General Staff (Author) in the Ministry of Defence where he wrote the classified operational history of the Northern Ireland campaign. As Special Assistant to the Director of Personnel, he occupied Room 105 at Broadcasting House in London from 1982, following his departure from the Army, until October 1988.^[1][2]

The role he inherited at the BBC was to liaise with MI5 regarding whether candidates for roles at the broadcasting corporation had suspicious political connections, particularly with communism (see: "Christmas tree" files). However, Stonham's role from his appointment in 1982 was to 'wind down' the vetting and reduce the number of BBC staff appointments that were subject to vetting. Sir Hugh Greene, a former Director-General of the BBC, said about Security Service vetting of BBC job applicants:

I was vetted in 1940. MI5 thought I was a Communist but it turned out to be a mistake.

Michael Grade, at the time Controller of BBC 1, also commented on the existence of Room 105, where Stonham was based:

I don't know about room 105, but it does sound like a good title for a drama series.^[4]

Death

Stonham died on 5 August 2014, aged 87.^[1][2]

References