There are few people in this wide world I have greater admiration for... and I like him very well besides...
Rodd entered HM Diplomatic Service in 1919.[1] He was able to help his friend in 1919 when the latter was seriously injured in an air accident after the Handley Page Type O Bi-plane bomber he was traveling in crashed at Roma-Centrocelle airport. Both pilots were killed but Lawrence miraculously escaped with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs.[4] Having served as a diplomat in Rome, Rodd was able to arrange for Lawrence to recover at his father’s residence in the British Embassy there.[5]
Bank of England and post-War careerEdit
After the war, and while still working at the Foreign Office, Rodd travelled twice through the central Sahara desert (1922), and wrote about his findings in People of the Veil, work that won the praise of the Royal Geographical Society. After this expedition Rodd tried his hand in the civil service.[6][7] Not feeling rewarded in that line of work, Rodd resigned from the service in 1924 and joined the Bank of England.[8][9] A second journey in 1927, with his brother Peter, and the future Arctic explorer Augustine Courtauld resulted in his being awarded the Society’s Cuthbert Peake Grant and Founders' Medal in 1929. That same year he was sent to Rome by the Governor of the bank, Sir Montague Norman, to address some problems at the British-Italian Bank and as a result Rodd had a number of personal interviews with Benito Mussolini. In November 1934, Montague then asked Rodd to offer his friend, Colonel Lawrence, the appointment of Secretary to the bank.[1] In a letter to Rodd, Lawrence politely declined the offer:
Dear F.R.,... That enclosed message ought to have been instantly dealt with, by a plain ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Will you please say ‘No’, for me, but not a plain ‘No’. Make it a coloured ‘No’, for the Elizabethan of Herbert Baker’s naming had given me a moment of very rare pleasure which I shall not tell to anyone, nor forget. Please explain how by accident it only came to me tonight, when I got back from work, too late to catch the evening mail from this pretty seaboard town. These newspaper praises lead a fellow to write himself down as a proper fraud - and then along comes a real man to stake himself on the contrary opinion. It is heartening and I am more than grateful. There - please work all that into your ‘No’: explain that I have a chance (if only I have the guts to take it) of the next year possessing all my time. Yours ever, T. E. Shaw[5]
After leaving the Bank of England, Rodd joined Morgan, Grenfell & Co. where he became a managing director. He was also a partner in Buckmaster & Moore resigning in 1929.[2]
Second World WarEdit
In 1939 Rodd was re-commissioned into the army and served as Chief of Civil Affairs, Staff Officer of the Allied Military Government in Sicily, and as Major General, Civil Affairs Administration Middle East Command, East Africa Command, and Italy.[10][1]
For nearly a year from July 1939, Rodd worked for the Ministry of Economic Warfare – an organization that he played a role in creating. He resigned from the Ministry on 3 June 1940 in order to take up a commission in the Army. During the Second world War he participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943,[11] after which he served as a major-general in colonial administration in the Middle East, East Africa and Italy.[2] The setting up civilian and military authorities in occupied countries caused opponents to accuse the Allies of corruption. When the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory was merged with the Allied Control Commission, it was suggested that Rodd was being too sympathetic to the Italians. However, because he was dealing with territories where nearly every official was part of the Fascist movement, he felt it necessary to keep a number of them in office to maintain control. After he employed the Carabinieri in Sicily to counter a growing Mafia he received more scrutiny.[12] In one of his reports, Rodd defended his actions, stating:
The other element which may be of considerable importance is the Mafia. This organisation is less a secret society than an attitude of mind which no Italian Government has yet succeeded in stamping out completely, though Mussolini made a strenuous effort to do so when he sent Mori as Prefect to Palermo in the 1925-30 period... There is some evidence of Mafia activity increasing. There has been one murder of a land owner which looks like Mafia work. The aftermath of war and the breakdown of central and provincial authority provide a good culture ground for the virus. The only formation capable of dealing with the Mafia with proper support is the Corps of Carabinieri. These with Civil Affairs Police Officers and military patrols may be able to check on... activity. I say deliberately “may”, because with the Omertà, or Sicilian code of honour, which precludes recourse of the injured parties even in cases of murder to the Government, it has been notoriously difficult to secure evidence of guilt, or even willingness to make charges...[5]
In another report Rodd noted the growth of a number of violent Communist groups:
Instances in point are the riots that took place at Irsina... and at a village in Matera Province. In both cases the mob invaded the Municipal Offices and lynched the Communal Secretary, who in both cases was an ardent Fascist. One Carabinieri’s throat was also cut. In one of these two cases the mob also attacked and injured, but not fatally, the wife and family of the Communal Secretary. These instances have been accompanied by brutality and mutilation. There have been one or two other cases in areas further North where similar incidents might have taken place but for the intervention of my officers arriving with the troops and calming the crowd...[5]
While in Italy he pursued the Allies' goal of protecting physical symbols of the country; i.e. works of art, buildings, libraries and monuments. All of which he had come to appreciate during his childhood in Rome both during the time his father was ambassador and while he was a diplomat there in the 1920s.[5]
Post-Second World War careerEdit
After the war he served as president of the Royal Geographical Society 1945–1948 and played a significant role in putting the Society on a secure financial footing. [13] He was also elected to the board of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) 1954–1965.[14] On the death of his father on 26 July 1941 he gained the title of 2nd Baron Rennell and become active as a Liberal peer, crossing to the Conservative benches in the early 1950s. He also served as a Deputy Lieutenant and later Vice-Lieutenant of Herefordshire.[5]
Personal lifeEdit
Baron Rennell died on 16 March 1978 and was buried in Presteigne cemetery in Wales. At the top of his gravestone, designed by David Kindersley, there is an image of the ‘Agadez cross’. This is a prominent Tuareg image which, according to Rodd, most likely originated with the ‘Ankh’, an Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol. Further down there is a Tamasheq word written in traditional Tifinagh script (ⵏⵏⵆⵔⵗⵙ). Pronounced Al-khar-ghas, this remains a greeting, meaning something like ‘Peace to you’. Rodd translated it as ‘Naught but good’.[15]
Rodd, Francis. (1932) General William Eaton;: The Failure of an Idea, Minton, Balch and company.
Rodd, Francis. (1926) People of the veil. Being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara, London, MacMillan & Co.
Rodd, Francis. (1970) British Military Administration of Occupied Territories in Africa during the Years 1941–1947, Greenwood Press.
ArmsEdit
Coat of arms of Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell
Crest
A representation of the Colossus of Rhodes over the shoulder a bow in the dexter hand an arrow and in the sinister a cup all Proper.
Escutcheon
Argent two trefoils slipped Sable on a chief of the second three crescents of the first.
Supporters
On either side a Cornish chough wings elevated and addorsed Proper each charged on the breast with a trefoil slipped Argent.
^Boobbyer, Philip (1 July 2018). "Lord Rennell, Chief of AMGOT: A Study of His Approach to Politics and Military Government (c.1940–43)". War in History. 25 (3): 304–327. doi:10.1177/0968344516671737.
^KIRWAN, L. P. (1 January 1978). "Lord Rennell of Rodd, C.b., K.b.e., J.p." Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 13 (1): vii. doi:10.1080/00672707809511629 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
^Rodd, Francis (1966). People of the veil: Being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara. Anthropological Publications.
^Rennell, Francis James Rennell Rodd (26 February 1966). People of the veil: being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Aoben in the Central Sahara. Anthropological Publications – via Library Catalog (Koha).
^"Biography of Major-General Francis James Rennell Rodd Baron Rennell of Rodd (1895 – 1978), Great Britain". generals.dk.
^Boobbyer, Philip (2017). "Lord Rennell, Chief of AMGOT: A Study of His Approach to Politics and Military Government (c .1940–43)". War in History.
^Newark, Tim (26 February 2021). "Lord Rennell: the unsung British hero who took on the Mafia". Daily Telegraph.
francis, rodd, baron, rennell, major, general, francis, james, rennell, rodd, baron, rennell, frgs, october, 1895, march, 1978, known, lord, rennell, army, officer, second, eldest, surviving, diplomat, rennell, rodd, baron, rennell, served, chief, civil, affai. Major General Francis James Rennell Rodd 2nd Baron Rennell KBE CB DL JP FRGS 25 October 1895 15 March 1978 known as Lord Rennell was an army officer and the second but eldest surviving son of the diplomat Rennell Rodd 1st Baron Rennell He served as a Chief of Civil Affairs in the Mediterranean theatre of war from 1941 to 1944 Francis Rodd 2nd Baron RennellRodd at his desk as the Staff Officer of the Allied Military Government in Sicily in 1943Birth nameFrancis James Rennell RoddBorn25 October 1895Died15 March 1978Allegiance United KingdomService wbr branch British ArmyRankMajor GeneralBattles warsFirst World WarSecond World WarAwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British EmpireCompanion of the Order of the Bath1914 1915 StarBritish War MedalVictory Medal United Kingdom 1939 1945 StarAfrica StarItaly StarDefence Medal United Kingdom War Medal 1939 19451953 Coronation HonoursOrder of Saints Maurice and LazarusFounder s MedalAlma materBalliol College Oxford Contents 1 Career 1 1 First World War and diplomatic service 1 2 Bank of England and post War career 2 Second World War 2 1 Post Second World War career 3 Personal life 4 Works 5 Arms 6 References 7 Further readingCareer EditRodd was educated at Eton College and Balliol College Oxford where he graduated with a Master of Arts 1 2 First World War and diplomatic service Edit During the First World War he served in the artillery and since he spoke four languages fluently as an intelligence officer in France Italy North Africa Egypt Libya Palestine and Syria While an intelligence officer in Egypt and Palestine he befriended T E Lawrence triggering his passion for exploring desert landscapes He wrote of Lawrence 3 There are few people in this wide world I have greater admiration for and I like him very well besides Rodd entered HM Diplomatic Service in 1919 1 He was able to help his friend in 1919 when the latter was seriously injured in an air accident after the Handley Page Type O Bi plane bomber he was traveling in crashed at Roma Centrocelle airport Both pilots were killed but Lawrence miraculously escaped with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs 4 Having served as a diplomat in Rome Rodd was able to arrange for Lawrence to recover at his father s residence in the British Embassy there 5 Bank of England and post War career Edit After the war and while still working at the Foreign Office Rodd travelled twice through the central Sahara desert 1922 and wrote about his findings in People of the Veil work that won the praise of the Royal Geographical Society After this expedition Rodd tried his hand in the civil service 6 7 Not feeling rewarded in that line of work Rodd resigned from the service in 1924 and joined the Bank of England 8 9 A second journey in 1927 with his brother Peter and the future Arctic explorer Augustine Courtauld resulted in his being awarded the Society s Cuthbert Peake Grant and Founders Medal in 1929 That same year he was sent to Rome by the Governor of the bank Sir Montague Norman to address some problems at the British Italian Bank and as a result Rodd had a number of personal interviews with Benito Mussolini In November 1934 Montague then asked Rodd to offer his friend Colonel Lawrence the appointment of Secretary to the bank 1 In a letter to Rodd Lawrence politely declined the offer Dear F R That enclosed message ought to have been instantly dealt with by a plain Yes or No Will you please say No for me but not a plain No Make it a coloured No for the Elizabethan of Herbert Baker s naming had given me a moment of very rare pleasure which I shall not tell to anyone nor forget Please explain how by accident it only came to me tonight when I got back from work too late to catch the evening mail from this pretty seaboard town These newspaper praises lead a fellow to write himself down as a proper fraud and then along comes a real man to stake himself on the contrary opinion It is heartening and I am more than grateful There please work all that into your No explain that I have a chance if only I have the guts to take it of the next year possessing all my time Yours ever T E Shaw 5 After leaving the Bank of England Rodd joined Morgan Grenfell amp Co where he became a managing director He was also a partner in Buckmaster amp Moore resigning in 1929 2 Second World War EditIn 1939 Rodd was re commissioned into the army and served as Chief of Civil Affairs Staff Officer of the Allied Military Government in Sicily and as Major General Civil Affairs Administration Middle East Command East Africa Command and Italy 10 1 For nearly a year from July 1939 Rodd worked for the Ministry of Economic Warfare an organization that he played a role in creating He resigned from the Ministry on 3 June 1940 in order to take up a commission in the Army During the Second world War he participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 11 after which he served as a major general in colonial administration in the Middle East East Africa and Italy 2 The setting up civilian and military authorities in occupied countries caused opponents to accuse the Allies of corruption When the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory was merged with the Allied Control Commission it was suggested that Rodd was being too sympathetic to the Italians However because he was dealing with territories where nearly every official was part of the Fascist movement he felt it necessary to keep a number of them in office to maintain control After he employed the Carabinieri in Sicily to counter a growing Mafia he received more scrutiny 12 In one of his reports Rodd defended his actions stating The other element which may be of considerable importance is the Mafia This organisation is less a secret society than an attitude of mind which no Italian Government has yet succeeded in stamping out completely though Mussolini made a strenuous effort to do so when he sent Mori as Prefect to Palermo in the 1925 30 period There is some evidence of Mafia activity increasing There has been one murder of a land owner which looks like Mafia work The aftermath of war and the breakdown of central and provincial authority provide a good culture ground for the virus The only formation capable of dealing with the Mafia with proper support is the Corps of Carabinieri These with Civil Affairs Police Officers and military patrols may be able to check on activity I say deliberately may because with the Omerta or Sicilian code of honour which precludes recourse of the injured parties even in cases of murder to the Government it has been notoriously difficult to secure evidence of guilt or even willingness to make charges 5 In another report Rodd noted the growth of a number of violent Communist groups Instances in point are the riots that took place at Irsina and at a village in Matera Province In both cases the mob invaded the Municipal Offices and lynched the Communal Secretary who in both cases was an ardent Fascist One Carabinieri s throat was also cut In one of these two cases the mob also attacked and injured but not fatally the wife and family of the Communal Secretary These instances have been accompanied by brutality and mutilation There have been one or two other cases in areas further North where similar incidents might have taken place but for the intervention of my officers arriving with the troops and calming the crowd 5 While in Italy he pursued the Allies goal of protecting physical symbols of the country i e works of art buildings libraries and monuments All of which he had come to appreciate during his childhood in Rome both during the time his father was ambassador and while he was a diplomat there in the 1920s 5 Post Second World War career Edit After the war he served as president of the Royal Geographical Society 1945 1948 and played a significant role in putting the Society on a secure financial footing 13 He was also elected to the board of British Overseas Airways Corporation BOAC 1954 1965 14 On the death of his father on 26 July 1941 he gained the title of 2nd Baron Rennell and become active as a Liberal peer crossing to the Conservative benches in the early 1950s He also served as a Deputy Lieutenant and later Vice Lieutenant of Herefordshire 5 Personal life EditBaron Rennell died on 16 March 1978 and was buried in Presteigne cemetery in Wales At the top of his gravestone designed by David Kindersley there is an image of the Agadez cross This is a prominent Tuareg image which according to Rodd most likely originated with the Ankh an Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol Further down there is a Tamasheq word written in traditional Tifinagh script ⵏⵏⵆⵔⵗⵙ Pronounced Al khar ghas this remains a greeting meaning something like Peace to you Rodd translated it as Naught but good 15 Rodd married Hon Mary Constance Vivian Smith later Lady Mary Rennell daughter of Vivian Hugh Smith 1st Baron Bicester and Lady Sybil Mary McDonnell daughter of William McDonnell 6th Earl of Antrim on 3 August 1928 1 Together they had issue 16 Hon Joanna Phoebe Rodd 1929 2016 married Comte Gerard de Renusson d Hauteville Hon Juliet Honor Rodd 1930 2023 married Brian Boobbyer Hon Mary Elizabeth Jill Rodd 1932 2020 married firstly Michael Dunne 1928 2020 married secondly Christopher Bridges Daniell Hon Rachel Georgiana Rodd 1935 married Richard Douglas Blythe Rodd was passionate about exploration and geography 2 Works EditRodd Francis 1932 General William Eaton The Failure of an Idea Minton Balch and company Rodd Francis 1926 People of the veil Being an account of the habits organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara London MacMillan amp Co Rodd Francis 1970 British Military Administration of Occupied Territories in Africa during the Years 1941 1947 Greenwood Press Arms EditCoat of arms of Francis Rodd 2nd Baron Rennell nbsp nbsp Crest A representation of the Colossus of Rhodes over the shoulder a bow in the dexter hand an arrow and in the sinister a cup all Proper Escutcheon Argent two trefoils slipped Sable on a chief of the second three crescents of the first Supporters On either side a Cornish chough wings elevated and addorsed Proper each charged on the breast with a trefoil slipped Argent Motto Recte Omnia Duce Deo 17 References Edit a b c d e Obituary Lord Rennell The Times No 60258 London 16 March 1978 p 20 a b c d Obituary Lord Rennell of Rodd The Geographical Journal 144 2 392 393 1 July 1978 JSTOR 634229 Newark Tim 26 February 2021 Lord Rennell the unsung British hero who took on the Mafia Daily Telegraph Alistair Alistair 2 October 2017 When Lawrence of Arabia crashed in Rome Mech Traveler a b c d e f Lot 739 26 March 2009 Dix Noonan Webb www dnw co uk Boobbyer Philip 1 July 2018 Lord Rennell Chief of AMGOT A Study of His Approach to Politics and Military Government c 1940 43 War in History 25 3 304 327 doi 10 1177 0968344516671737 KIRWAN L P 1 January 1978 Lord Rennell of Rodd C b K b e J p Azania Archaeological Research in Africa 13 1 vii doi 10 1080 00672707809511629 via Taylor and Francis NEJM Rodd Francis 1966 People of the veil Being an account of the habits organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara Anthropological Publications Rennell Francis James Rennell Rodd 26 February 1966 People of the veil being an account of the habits organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Aoben in the Central Sahara Anthropological Publications via Library Catalog Koha Biography of Major General Francis James Rennell Rodd Baron Rennell of Rodd 1895 1978 Great Britain generals dk Boobbyer Philip 2017 Lord Rennell Chief of AMGOT A Study of His Approach to Politics and Military Government c 1940 43 War in History Newark Tim 26 February 2021 Lord Rennell the unsung British hero who took on the Mafia Daily Telegraph Bloomsbury Collections Geographers Biobibliographical Studies www bloomsburycollections com Obituary Lord Rennell of Rodd KBE CB JP The Geographical Journal 144 2 392 393 1 January 1978 JSTOR 634229 Boobbyer Philip 26 January 2021 Conclusion pp 213 220 ISBN 9781785276637 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a website ignored help Mosley Charles editor Burke s Peerage Baronetage amp Knightage 107th edition 3 volumes Wilmington Delaware U S A Burke s Peerage Genealogical Books Ltd 2003 Burke s Peerage 1956 Further reading EditBiographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War Nick Smart ISBN 1 84415 049 6 Boobbyer Philip 2021 The Life and World of Francis Rodd Lord Rennell 1895 1978 Geography Money and War Anthem Press Peerage of the United KingdomPreceded byJames Rodd Baron Rennell1941 1978 Succeeded byTremayne Rodd Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Francis Rodd 2nd Baron Rennell amp oldid 1171207693, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
