London, Sofia and Athens, and the ‘Episode of the “Floating Bag”’

Abstract

On his return from Tehran, Garnett decided not to take any leave. For some time he had hankered to be at the centre of things, ideally in a trench somewhere in France, but failing that, at the Foreign Office. There, he had established a good reputation for himself and had important allies such as Oliphant, who had commented positively on his work as head of chancery in Tehran. Initially, Garnett was posted to the Parliamentary Department, where telegrams incoming and outgoing were deciphered and ciphered. Though depressed by the ‘drudgery’ of the work, he was able to read telegrams on a very wide range of subjects.¹ The department worked round the clock, in three shifts, and, after a brief experience of the evening shift, Garnett joined the 8.00 am to 4.00 pm shift.² His instruction to the office juniors to open the bags promptly enabled him to delay his arrival until 9.00 am: hardly Foreign Office hours, but an improvement nevertheless. It was a short walk from the Hotel Jules on Jermyn Street, where he stayed initially, and then from his new rooms on neighbouring Bury Street to his desk at the Foreign Office, overlooking the Horse Guards Parade. From there he listened to bands playing endless renditions of ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’, and, not untypically, wished he was somewhere else.³