Nevile Montagu Butler

Nevile Montagu Butler (1893–1973) was a son of Henry Montagu Butler, master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was in Germany when the First World War began and was interned at Ruhleben. Released from the camp in March 1915 into a German household and subsequently permitted to leave the country, he returned to Britain and received a commission in the Household Battalion. His later diplomatic career included service in Tehran and Bern before his wartime Washington posting. ^{1, 2}

As counselor at the British embassy in 1940, Butler worked on the economic and humanitarian consequences of the European war. In May he joined British officials in discussions with the State Department about preventing supplies from reaching Germany through Japanese shipping and railways. In August he approached Samuel Reber about transferring the League of Nations’ opium control organizations to Princeton, following an American invitation to house the League’s technical services. He conveyed Halifax’s support for the move and requested the State Department’s informal reaction. ^{3, 4}

After Lord Lothian’s death, Butler served as chargé in December 1940. He notified the State Department of the new British Supply Council, chaired by Arthur Purvis, which would coordinate policy on purchases from North America. He also explained an arrangement to supply Greece with British aircraft from Egypt so that thirty American P-40s could remain available to Britain. ^{7, 8}

Butler held ministerial rank at Washington in 1941 and later became an assistant under-secretary in the Foreign Office. His appointment as ambassador at Rio de Janeiro took effect on 3 September 1947, and he subsequently represented Britain in the Netherlands. ^{2, 5, 6}