Leonard Dawe
Encyclopedia
Leonard Sydney Dawe was an English amateur footballer who played in the Southern League
for Southampton
between 1912 and 1913, and made one appearance for the England national amateur football team
in 1912. He later became a schoolteacher and crossword
compiler for The Daily Telegraph
newspaper and in 1944 was interrogated on suspicion of espionage
in the run-up to the D-Day
landings.
in west London
and was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, before going up to Emmanuel College
at the University of Cambridge
. In his final year at the university, he earned his football "blue" when he played in the 1912 match against the University of Oxford
, scoring in his side's 3–1 victory.
of the Southern League
, making his debut in a 1–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle
on 30 March. On his debut, he laid on the game's only goal for Percy Prince
. The local daily paper, The Echo
, reported that "Dawe was decidedly plucky to 'get in it'." Dawe always took the field wearing spectacles and one of his lenses was broken during his debut game.
Dawe continued to make occasional appearances for Southampton over the next twelve months, although his studies and teaching career prevented him from appearing more often. In his eleven league appearances for the "Saints", he scored three goals, including two against Watford
on 13 April 1912.
Dawe was a member of the United Kingdom
squad for the 1912 Summer Olympics
in Stockholm
, Sweden
but was not selected to play. He did, however, make one appearance for the England national amateur football team
when he played against Ireland in Belfast
in October 1912.
By the end of the 1912–13 season, Dawe had severed his connection with Southampton and had joined Ilford
in north-east London
.
area of north-east London
before joining St Paul's School based at Barnes. In 1926, he joined Strand School
in the Tulse Hill
area of south London
, progressing to become the school's head teacher
. Dawe was described as a "disciplinarian and a man of extremely high principle". At Strand School, he was known as "moneybags", in allusion to his initials, L
.S.D. (pound
s, shillings and pence
).
, Dawe was commissioned as a second lieutenant
for service with the Forest School Officer Training Corps on 20 February 1915, transferring to the Hampshire Regiment "local reserve" on 9 May 1916. Whilst with the Hampshire Regiment, he served in the Mesopotamia campaign from September 1917.
After the war, he transferred as a lieutenant
from a service battalion of the Hampshires to St Paul's School OTC on 29 April 1920, being promoted to major
with St Paul's OTC on 25 August 1926, but resigned that commission on 16 October 1926.
s for The Daily Telegraph
newspaper and was one of the first compilers to use "cryptic
" clues. The first Daily Telegraph crossword, compiled by Dawes, appeared on 30 July 1925 – he continued to compile crosswords until his death in 1963.
in Surrey
.
Two days before the disastrous Dieppe raid
in August 1942, the clue "French port (6)" appeared in the Daily Telegraph crossword (compiled by Dawe), followed by the solution Dieppe
the next day; on 19 August, the raid on Dieppe took place. The objective was to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials while assessing the German responses. The Allies also wanted to destroy coastal defences, port structures and all strategic buildings. No major objectives of the raid were accomplished. A total of 3,623 of the 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured. The Allied air forces failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle, and lost 106 aircraft.
The War Office suspected that the crossword had been used to pass intelligence to the enemy and called upon Lord Tweedsmuir, then a senior intelligence officer attached to the Canadian Army, to investigate the crossword. Tweedsmuir, the son of John Buchan the author, later commented:
appeared as a solution in a Daily Telegraph crossword that was to have major repercussions. Utah was also the codename for the D-Day
beach assigned to the 4th US Assault Division. This would have been considered a coincidence; however, in previous months the solution words Juno
, Gold
and Sword
(all code name
s for beaches assigned to the British) had appeared and then on 22 May 1944 came a clue with the solution Omaha
(code name for the D-Day beach to be taken by the 1st US Assault Division). Overlord
(code name for the whole D-Day
operation) appeared on 27 May and the pattern continued with Mulberry
(code name for the floating harbours used in the landings) appearing on 30 May until finally, on 1 June, the solution to 15 Down was Neptune
(code name for the naval assault phase).
MI5
became involved and called on Dawe, the compiler of the puzzles in question, at his home in Leatherhead
. Dawe recalled the episode in a BBC TV interview in 1958. In 1984, Ronald French, a property manager in Wolverhampton
, came forward to claim that, as a 14-year-old at the school in 1944, he inserted the names into the puzzles. According to French, Dawe occasionally invited pupils into his study and encouraged them to help fill in the blank crossword patterns. Later, Dawe would create clues for their solution words. French claimed that during the weeks before D-Day he had learned of the codewords from Canadian and American soldiers billeted close by the school, awaiting the invasion. French believed that hundreds of schoolchildren must have known what he knew.
, "Quest", by the neo-progressive rock
band, Final Conflict
– the album is about an ordinary man like Dawe imagining he is on trial for the failings in his life.
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
for Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
between 1912 and 1913, and made one appearance for the England national amateur football team
England national amateur football team
The England national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for England at football. It was formed in 1906, due to the growth of the professional game which meant that amateur players could no longer easily find places in the main England national team.-First match and unbeaten...
in 1912. He later became a schoolteacher and crossword
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
compiler for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
newspaper and in 1944 was interrogated on suspicion of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
in the run-up to the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
landings.
Early career
Dawe was born in BrentfordBrentford
Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...
in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, before going up to Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. In his final year at the university, he earned his football "blue" when he played in the 1912 match against the University of Oxford
Oxford University A.F.C.
Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...
, scoring in his side's 3–1 victory.
Football career
In March 1912, he signed on amateur terms for SouthamptonSouthampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
of the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
, making his debut in a 1–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
on 30 March. On his debut, he laid on the game's only goal for Percy Prince
Percy Prince
Percy Prince was an English amateur footballer who played as a centre-forward for Southampton and Boscombe in the early 20th century.-Football career:...
. The local daily paper, The Echo
Southern Daily Echo
The Southern Daily Echo, commonly known as the Daily Echo or simply The Echo, is a local newspaper that covers the area of south-central Hampshire, England, including the city of Southampton...
, reported that "Dawe was decidedly plucky to 'get in it'." Dawe always took the field wearing spectacles and one of his lenses was broken during his debut game.
Dawe continued to make occasional appearances for Southampton over the next twelve months, although his studies and teaching career prevented him from appearing more often. In his eleven league appearances for the "Saints", he scored three goals, including two against Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
on 13 April 1912.
Dawe was a member of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom national football team
No United Kingdom national football team currently exists, as there are separate teams representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in football. These national teams compete in the World Cup and European Championships and other internationals. A UK team has played in friendly...
squad for the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
but was not selected to play. He did, however, make one appearance for the England national amateur football team
England national amateur football team
The England national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for England at football. It was formed in 1906, due to the growth of the professional game which meant that amateur players could no longer easily find places in the main England national team.-First match and unbeaten...
when he played against Ireland in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in October 1912.
By the end of the 1912–13 season, Dawe had severed his connection with Southampton and had joined Ilford
Ilford F.C.
Ilford F.C. is a London football club based in Ilford, in Greater London founded in 1987.There was an earlier famous non-league club of the same name, founded in 1881. In 1979, it merged with Leytonstone to...
in north-east London
North East (London sub region)
The North East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and the City of London. The sub region was established in 2008 and replaced the larger East sub region that had been...
.
Teaching career
In 1913, Dawe obtained a teaching position (teaching science) at Forest School in the WalthamstowWalthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
area of north-east London
North East (London sub region)
The North East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and the City of London. The sub region was established in 2008 and replaced the larger East sub region that had been...
before joining St Paul's School based at Barnes. In 1926, he joined Strand School
Strand School
Strand School was a boys' grammar school in the Tulse Hill area of South London. It moved there in 1913 from its original location in the Strand...
in the Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England. It lies to the south of Brixton, east of Brixton Hill, north of West Norwood and west of West Dulwich.-History:...
area of south London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, progressing to become the school's head teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
. Dawe was described as a "disciplinarian and a man of extremely high principle". At Strand School, he was known as "moneybags", in allusion to his initials, L
Pound sign
The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...
.S.D. (pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
s, shillings and pence
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....
).
Military career
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Dawe was commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
for service with the Forest School Officer Training Corps on 20 February 1915, transferring to the Hampshire Regiment "local reserve" on 9 May 1916. Whilst with the Hampshire Regiment, he served in the Mesopotamia campaign from September 1917.
After the war, he transferred as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
from a service battalion of the Hampshires to St Paul's School OTC on 29 April 1920, being promoted to major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
with St Paul's OTC on 25 August 1926, but resigned that commission on 16 October 1926.
Crossword compiler
In 1925, he commenced compiling crosswordCrossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
s for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
newspaper and was one of the first compilers to use "cryptic
Cryptic crossword
Cryptic crosswords are crossword puzzles in which each clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malta,...
" clues. The first Daily Telegraph crossword, compiled by Dawes, appeared on 30 July 1925 – he continued to compile crosswords until his death in 1963.
Dieppe
During the Second World War Strand School was evacuated to EffinghamEffingham
Effingham is an English village in the Borough of Guildford in Surrey, bordering Mole Valley. There is a railway station at Effingham Junction , at the point where a branch of the Sutton & Mole Valley Line joins the New Guildford Line - these are both routes between London Waterloo and Guildford.-...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Two days before the disastrous Dieppe raid
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...
in August 1942, the clue "French port (6)" appeared in the Daily Telegraph crossword (compiled by Dawe), followed by the solution Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
the next day; on 19 August, the raid on Dieppe took place. The objective was to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials while assessing the German responses. The Allies also wanted to destroy coastal defences, port structures and all strategic buildings. No major objectives of the raid were accomplished. A total of 3,623 of the 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured. The Allied air forces failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle, and lost 106 aircraft.
The War Office suspected that the crossword had been used to pass intelligence to the enemy and called upon Lord Tweedsmuir, then a senior intelligence officer attached to the Canadian Army, to investigate the crossword. Tweedsmuir, the son of John Buchan the author, later commented:
"We noticed that the crossword contained the word "Dieppe", and there was an immediate and exhaustive inquiry which also involved MI5. But in the end it was concluded that it was just a remarkable coincidence – a complete fluke".
The D-Day crosswords
In May 1944, UtahUtah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
appeared as a solution in a Daily Telegraph crossword that was to have major repercussions. Utah was also the codename for the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
beach assigned to the 4th US Assault Division. This would have been considered a coincidence; however, in previous months the solution words Juno
Juno Beach
Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
, Gold
Gold Beach
Gold Beach was the code name of one of the D-Day landing beaches that Allied forces used to invade German-occupied France on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
and Sword
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
(all code name
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
s for beaches assigned to the British) had appeared and then on 22 May 1944 came a clue with the solution Omaha
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
(code name for the D-Day beach to be taken by the 1st US Assault Division). Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
(code name for the whole D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
operation) appeared on 27 May and the pattern continued with Mulberry
Mulberry harbour
A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....
(code name for the floating harbours used in the landings) appearing on 30 May until finally, on 1 June, the solution to 15 Down was Neptune
Operation Neptune
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...
(code name for the naval assault phase).
MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
became involved and called on Dawe, the compiler of the puzzles in question, at his home in Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
. Dawe recalled the episode in a BBC TV interview in 1958. In 1984, Ronald French, a property manager in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, came forward to claim that, as a 14-year-old at the school in 1944, he inserted the names into the puzzles. According to French, Dawe occasionally invited pupils into his study and encouraged them to help fill in the blank crossword patterns. Later, Dawe would create clues for their solution words. French claimed that during the weeks before D-Day he had learned of the codewords from Canadian and American soldiers billeted close by the school, awaiting the invasion. French believed that hundreds of schoolchildren must have known what he knew.
"Quest"
In 1992, Dawe's life was the basis for an albumAlbum
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, "Quest", by the neo-progressive rock
Neo-progressive rock
Neo-progressive rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock, developed in the UK and popular in the 1980s, although it lives on today....
band, Final Conflict
FC (band)
FC, originally named Final Conflict, are a British neo-progressive rock band based in Staffordshire.-Band members:Current line-up *Brian Donkin - Vocals, guitars*Andy Lawton - Vocals, guitars...
– the album is about an ordinary man like Dawe imagining he is on trial for the failings in his life.