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Catalogue description The National Archives: Investigation into Forged Documents discovered amongst Authentic Public Records: Documents purporting to have been created by members of the British Government and members of the British Armed Services relating to leading Nazis figures and Axis Power governments
| Reference: | RW 4 |
|---|---|
| Title: | The National Archives: Investigation into Forged Documents discovered amongst Authentic Public Records: Documents purporting to have been created by members of the British Government and members of the British Armed Services relating to leading Nazis figures and Axis Power governments |
| Description: |
These records comprise documents identified as or suspected to be counterfeited forgeries. Initially, five documents were extracted from FO 800/868 and HS 8/944. The National Archives commissioned an official forensic examination which concluded that all five documents were indeed forgeries. On 12 July 2005, it was announced that further investigations on documents from FO 371/26145, FO 371/60508, FO 371/26991 and FO 794/19 were in progress. These were also suspected to be forgeries and forensic tests were carried out on these papers. On 16 September 2005, The National Archives received laboratory results confirming that the documents were forgeries. Further documents were identified and forensically tested and proved to be forgeries. These were extracted from CAB 127/206, FO 898/14, FO 371/26542, FO 371/28741, WO 208/609 and WO 208/2036A. A further five documents were identified from FO 188/460 and a single document from BT 64/397 as likely forgeries. These were not forensically tested. A decision on their inauthenticity was taken by The National Archives based upon their similarities to other proven forged documents: peculiarities in formatting, dating and style. The series also contains all the copies and documentation released as a result of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request relating to the discovery of these forgeries. |
| Date: | 1939 (purportedly) - 2007 |
| Arrangement: |
The documents are arranged by the reference to the volume or file in which the forgery was found, followed by a description of the item. The alphabetical references in the descriptions refer to police exhibit designations. |
| Held by: | The National Archives, Kew |
| Legal status: | Non record material |
| Language: | English and German |
| Physical description: | 31 file(s) |
| Access conditions: | Open unless otherwise stated |
| Immediate source of acquisition: |
in 2008 The National Archives |
| Accruals: | Series is not accruing |
| Administrative / biographical background: |
During 2005 to 2006, The National Archives undertook an investigation in response to allegations that certain documents cited in three books by Martin Allen and held in The National Archives were forgeries. The investigation, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police and forensic services, identified 29 forged documents in total. The three works citing the forgeries are: Hidden Agenda: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies (London, Macmillan, 2000). The Hitler / Hess Deception: British Intelligence's Best Kept Secret of the Second World War (HarperCollins, London, 2003). Himmler's Secret War: the Covert Peace Negotiations of Heinrich Himmler (Robson Books, London, 2005). The investigation was catalysed by correspondence received by the National Archives in October 2004 from an eminent Second World War historian that cast doubts on the authenticity of these documents. A limited examination was made but no firm conclusions were drawn from it at the time. In June 2005, Mr Ben Fenton, a journalist with the Daily Telegraph, wrote to The National Archives also questioning the authenticity of some of the documents cited in the book 'Himmler's Secret War'. This newspaper requested that the five documents be forensically tested at a private laboratory at its own cost, which The National Archives agreed to allow under its supervision. The results indicated that all five documents were forgeries. A further investigation identified an extra 24 National Archives referenced documents cited in Martin Allen's books. These documents were forensically tested in government laboratories and also found to be forged documents. The Metropolitan Police investigation evidence was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided in 2006 not to pursue a conviction in the courts. The forged documents were extracted from the files in which they were found during the investigation in 2007 and have been placed in this record series. |
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