Eighty years ago government campaigns against political dissent and profiteering find a perfect target

 

The ghost of profiteering on war contracts that had been a great topic in the First World War resurfaced, this time intertwined with the government's campaign against political dissent. The Commons Public Accounts Committee savagely criticized the British Research and Manufacturing Company (BMARC), a subisdiary of the French Hispano-Suiza company established before the war to manufacture vitally needed 20mm cannon for the RAF. Analagous to the Holy Roman Empire, BMARC was neither Swiss, Spanish nor a research company; its sin was to have supplied weapons under fixed price contracts so lucrative that an initial profit of £1.7m had to be pared down to £90,000 on re-examination. BMARC charged £280 for weapons that cost £168 to produce. BMARC was an attractive target as its managing director, Dennis Kendall had recently been elected as an independent MP against the government candidate. Whilst most of the awkward squad MPs belonged to the extreme wings of coalition parties, Kendall was an isolated individual. MI5 had long been interested in BMARC and had discovered Kendall's chronic womanising. His manifestly lavish lifestyle - a Rolls Royce, a Chevrolet and building a £22,000 house for himself - did nothing to deter suspicions of profiteering. Another source of hostility towards him was a squabble with Lord Brownlow, chairman of BMARC, who had lifted himself out of semi-disgrace for his ambiguous role in the abdication crisis by becoming assistant to Lord Beaverbrook, then the minister for aircraft propduction. Kendall defended himself resolutely against the Committee's chairman in the House of Commons but BMARC's refusal to supply cannon until the fixed price was accepted told heavily against him.

A small commando raid on the Channel Island of Sark led to a major furore when German prisoners were bound immediately after surrendering. In the confusion some escaped, others were killed, and the Germans announced that Canadian PoWs taken at Dieppe would be shackled as reprisal. The British responded by taking German PoW's from a camp at Bowmanville in Canada to be shackled. The other prisoners rioted and took over the camp for a day until Canadian reinforcements arrive and restored order.

The US Navy intercepted a heavily escorted Japanese convoy taking reinforcements to the troops fighting on Guadalcanal. In the ensuing Battle of Cape Esperance the Americans had the upper hand, sinking the heavy cruiser Furutaka. Two Japanese destroyers were sunk the following day. After the disastrous losses of the Savo Sea battle, the first sea battle of the Guadalcanal campaign, this provided a boost to American morale, but the Japanese troops all landed safely.