Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis Reluctant Gamble Jonathan Pearson Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis This page intentionally left blank Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis Reluctant Gamble Jonathan Pearson © Jonathan Pearson 2003 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2003 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 0–333–98451–X This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pearson, Jonathan, 1971– Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez crisis : reluctant gamble / Jonathan Pearson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–333–98451–X 1. Egypt—History—Intervention, 1956. 2. Great Britain—Foreign relations—1945–1964. 3. Eden, Anthony, Earl of Avon, 1897– I. Title. DT107.83 .P38 2002 962.05′3—dc21 2002072620 10987654321 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne To Doug and Joan Pearson This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 Nationalisation of the Canal: 26 July–3 August 20 2 Negotiation: 4 August–9 September 42 3 SCUA: 10 September–21 September 67 4 Mounting Pressure: 22 September–3 October 92 5 Transition to Force: 4 October–14 October 120 6 Collusion: 15 October–25 October 145 7 Finale: 26 October 1956–9 January 1957 158 Conclusion 169 Notes 181 Bibliography 233 Index 248 vii List of Abbreviations Archival ADM UK Admiralty Files AIR UK Air Ministry Files ALBP Alan Lennox-Boyd Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford AP Avon Papers, Heslop Room, University of Birmingham BeP Beaverbrook Papers, House of Lords Record Office, London BLP Bruce Lockhart Papers, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana BP Butler Papers, Trinity College, Cambridge BrP Brendan Bracken Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge CAB 128 UK Cabinet Meetings CAB 129 UK Cabinet Memoranda CAB 131 UK Defence Committee CAB 134/1216 Egypt Committee Meetings CAB 134/1217 Egypt Committee Memoranda CCUKC Cartoon Centre, University of Kent CiP Cilcennin Papers, Camarthenshire County Council Archives, Camarthen, Wales CP Churchill Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge DDE The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas DEFE 4 UK Chiefs of Staff Committee Meetings DEFE 5 UK Chiefs of Staff Memoranda DEFE 32 UK Chiefs of Staff, Secretary’s Standard File DP Sir William Dickson Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge DSP Duncan-Sandys Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge FO 371 UK General Foreign Office Files FO 800 UK Foreign Secretary’s Private Files GBP Gore-Booth Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford GMP Gilbert Murray Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford HP Hayter Papers, in the private possession of Lady Hayter JFDOH John Foster Dulles Oral History, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton KP Kilmuir Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge LHA Liddel Hart Archive, Liddel Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, University of London MP Macmillan Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford NACP US National Archives, College Park viii List of Abbreviations ix NAW US National Archives, Washington, DC NBP Norman Brook Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford PREM 11 UK Prime Minister’s Files PRO Public Records Office, Kew, London RG 218 Records of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff RG 263 Records of the Central Intelligence Agency SCP Spencer Churchill Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge SELO Selwyn Lloyd Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge SLA Squerryes Lodge Archive, Churchill College, Cambridge SOHP Suez Oral History Project, Liddel Hart Archive, Liddel Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, University of London TUK Treasury Files TNLA The Times News Library Archive, News International, London WCP William Clark Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford WHP William Hayley Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge WMP Walter Monckton Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford WO32 UK War Office Files on Suez Crisis WP Wright Papers, in the private possession of Sir Denis Wright Other ALPHA The plan to give land to Egypt and financially compensate Israel (for more details, see PRO CAB 129/75. Memoran- dum by Macmillan, 11 June, 1955) CASU Co-operative Association of Suez Canal Users, an acronym superseded by SCUA (see below) COS Chiefs of Staff DAFR Documents of American Foreign Relations (New York, 1956–57) DDF Documents Diplomatique Français EC Egypt Committee E(O)C Egypt Official Committee FO Foreign Office FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States (Washington, DC, 1979–90) HMG Her Majesty’s Government IMF International Monetary Fund JIC Joint Intelligence Committee ME(O) Middle East Official Committee ME(O)(SC) Suez Canal Sub-Committee of the Official Middle East Committee OMEGA The Anglo-American plan to destabilise Nasser’s Regime by economic sanctions and covert activity RIIA Royal Institute of International Affairs x List of Abbreviations RIIR Royal Institute of International Relations SCUA Suez Canal Users Association SEATO South East Asian Treaty Organisation SIS Secret Intelligence Service; MI6 SOE Special Operations Executive UNEF United Nations Emergency Force USDDRS United States Declassified Document Reference System (Washington, DC, 1976–90) Acknowledgements I owe great debts of gratitude to the many people who have enabled me to complete this book. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone at Palgrave Macmillan and Keith Povey for their help in the preparation of the manu- script. Sincere thanks also to the archival staff in every institution cited in the course of my work. In the United Kingdom: the Public Record Office, Kew; Churchill College and Trinity College, Cambridge; the Barnes Library and the Central Library, Birmingham; the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, London; the Carmarthenshire County Archives; the Cartoon Centre, University of Kent; and the British Newspaper Archive, Collindale, London. In the United States: The Lilly Library, Indiana Univer- sity, Bloomington, Indiana; the National Archives, College Park; and the Seeley Mudd Library, Princeton. I would also like to give specific thanks to Miss Chris Penney at the University of Birmingham; Mr Brian MacArthur, for access, and Mr Eamon Dyas, for his help, at News International, The Times News Library Archive, London; Sara Campbell at the Wellcome Institute, Oxford; Colin Harris, Nia Mai Williams and Martin Maw at Modern Political Papers, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford; Laurie Millner at the Imperial War Museum; and Dwight Strandberg at the Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas. I would also like to thank Lady Avon and the Avon Trustees for granting me access to the Avon Papers, Mrs Virginia Makins for access and permission to use her father’s, Lord Sherfield’s, unpublished memoirs, the Macmillan Trustees for permission to use the Macmillan diaries, and Mr Donald Hayley for access to Sir William Hayley’s papers. Others have been kind enough to grant me interviews. To them I express great thanks for their time, their experience and their patience: Lord Robert Carr; Sir Guy Millard; Sir Frank Cooper; Mr A. Nicholls; Mr Aleco Joannides; Mr Iverach MacDonald; and Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker, who suffered my questions on two occasions. Lady Hayter graciously agreed to an interview and kindly allowed me access to both her diaries for the period, as well as Sir William Hayter’s papers. Sir Denis Wright also agreed to an interview and allowed me to view his unpublished memoirs. I also thank Sir Patrick Reilly, Sir Edward Playfair and Mr Julian Shuckburgh for their correspondence. Various academics have advised me during my study. They are too numerous to include all, but I would like to convey my particular gratitude, with deference to those not mentioned, to Peter Hennessy, Colin Seymour-Ure, David Welch, John Young, Scott Lucas, Brian Atkinson and Anthony Sampson. xi xii Acknowledgements Above all, I owe a special debt of gratitude to George Conyne, for his continued faith, interest and patience. My greatest strength has been derived from my family; my wife, Jo Fox, and above all, my parents, to whom I would like to dedicate this book. JONATHAN PEARSON Introduction Recent studies of the Suez Crisis, and of Sir Anthony Eden’s role, have tried to clarify his