Today’s swerve into history observes the birthday of one of the most incongrous figures of World War II and in the history of intelligence and military special operations.  Today would have been the 91st birthday of  Hardy Amies.

Famous as one of Queen Elizabeth’s designers from 1950 until his death in 2003, and owner of a famous couture line, Davies started as a designer in 1930 on Savile Row, after spending three years teaching English in France and Germany, and learning both languages in the bargain.  As perhaps befits the stereotype of a clothing designer, Amies was discreetly gay.

His fluency – and love of outdoor sports – led to his being recruited by Britain’s “Special Operations Executive” at the beginning of the war.  The presence of a dress designer in the hard-bitten world of intelligence “black operations” raised a few eyebrows;  from the Telegraph’s obit:

Amies long suspected that the SOE’s Maj Gen Colin Gubbins and his staff, who had been charged by Churchill with setting Europe ablaze, did not regard a dressmaker as suitable military material.

His training report states: “This officer is far tougher both physically and mentally than his rather precious appearance would suggest.

“He possesses a keen brain and an abundance of shrewd sense. His only handicap is his precious appearance and manner, and these are tending to decrease.”

Amies went on to lead SOE’s sabotage operations in Belgium.  From the Times of London’s obit:

Amies joined the Belgian section of SOE as second-in-command to Lt-Col Claude Knight, whom he later succeeded in command. Working with the various Belgian Resistance groups, he organised sabotage and arranged for agents to be parachuted with radio equipment into the Ardennes. In his spare time, he slightly redesigned his lieutenant-colonel’s uniform and had it made up by a civilian tailor.

Almost reads like caricature.

After organising the Brussels photo-shoot in December 1944 and showing Vogue’s Paris-based war correspondent Lee Miller around the re-captured capital, it appears that Amies had second thoughts about the project and warned London of the impending publication.

He had introduced Miss Miller to society figures as well as some of the rougher characters who had parachuted in on sabotage missions and their compatriots in the Resistance.

Miss Miller gushingly reported that she was introduced to Count and Countess d’Urssel in the bedraggled elegance of their Brussels home, where neglected treasures peered from the corners.

“A lovely young girl, Countess Therese, greeted us. Hardy introduced me, we chit-chatted and I kept watching her ‘baby face’ which had been such a perfect passport for her activities in the Resistance movement,” she wrote.

He went on to spend over fifty years as the gown designer for Queen Elizabeth.

Apropos not much.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 11:42 pm and is filed under History And Its Making. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.