 |
| 09 |
| A Suitcase of Reminiscences |
This is a large, heavy suitcase - lined with a lilac paper - filled with private and sensitive documents. It was acquired by the VFI at a public auction on Thursday 27th June, 1991. The suitcase was lot 46.
It can be appreciated that the public disclosure of private documents is a sensitive matter. It is therefore both necessary and desirable that VFI lawyers obtain permission from the author of each document before lodging it on this public site. At the moment we are only able to make one document from suitcase 09 available, from which certain words have necessarily been excised.
Document 1
Letter from Public Records Office, Kew, with covering letter
Covering Letter
Dear ******,
Sorry for all this cloak and dagger business but I wanted to be sure of getting this
note to you. The attached, addressed to Tulse Luper from the Public Records Office,
may not contain any surprises in itself. But it may be a missing piece of a very
large jigsaw (from which many other pieces may be missing, but never mind). I first met Mr.
Luper in the 1950's when we were working on the same team in a top secret government
project researching into ******. Many years later I received the attached letter
with instructions to send it to you, if I didn't hear from Mr Luper within 10 years. I've
no idea if those instructions came from Tulse or someone else. Anyway, I'm sure you
will be able to deal with this.
Yours *********
enc.
From the Public Records Office, Kew , England.
18th August 1976
Dear Mr Luper,
Thank you for your letter dated 24th March 1975 regarding a suitcase belonging to
you, hereafter referred to as Item 2749873x. I am sorry to inform you that Item 2749873x
is not yet available for viewing due to the sensitive nature of its contents which
are, at present, barred from public gaze for 100 years. I am not at liberty to discuss
the exact nature of the contents, though I am sure you are well aware of them. You
must also be cognizant of the powers of the Official Secrets Act if you carelessly
divulge any of this information. No matter how briefly you worked for the government, and
regardless of capacity, the Official Secrets Act is not to be trifled with.
Regarding your query about the return of the actual suitcase of Item 2749873x - sans
contents - I'm afraid that request is also out of the question. If only you hadn't
used restricted documents to decoupage Item 2749873x, things might have been different.
As it is, we will have to X-ray Item 2749873x and set a team of qualified document
archivists to work to ascertain the secrecy rating for each document fragment used
on your so-called 'work of art.' As we have around 85 miles of files here at Kew,
don't expect this task to be completed in the foreseeable future.
If you are still around at the time of expiry of Item 2749873x, we would be happy
to return your case together with any personal effects therein.
Yours sincerely,
A. N*****, Archivist (Lo - Lu Division), Public Records Office.
 | ......... |
Peter Greenaway | ......... |  |