274 • JERVIS, THOMAS
ficeof the Foreign Office, a post he held until his death in November
1954.JERVIS, THOMAS.Having retired from the Indian army after 30
years’ service in 1836 and failed to be appointed surveyor-general of
India, Major Thomas Jervis maintained his interest in cartography
and in early 1854, while on holiday in Belgium, came across a Rus-
sian map of the Crimea. Having reproduced it and sold it to the secre-
tary of state for war, the Duke of Newcastle, Jervis was appointed
head of a newTopographical and Statistical Departmentat the
War Office, accommodated in stables off Spring Gardens. By the
time he died in his sleep in April 1887, Jervis had received wide-
spread international recognition as a geographer and head of British
Intelligence.
JOHN, OTTO.A seniorAbwehrofficer, Otto John also worked as the
chief lawyer for the German airline Lufthansa, and it was in this ca-
pacity that he arrived in Lisbon in November 1942. During his stay
he made contact with theSecret Intelligence Service(SIS) and
alerted his case officer to the existence of an anti-Nazi group based
within his organization in Berlin. In February 1943 John returned to
Lisbon to report on the progress made by his fellow conspirators but
was given a deliberately discouraging response by SIS, which was
anxious not to raise Soviet suspicions by developing formal links
with any German opposition movement. Undeterred, John partici-
pated in an attempt on Hitler’s life in March 1943, which failed when
a British-made bomb placed on the Fu ̈hrer’s aircraft failed to deto-
nate. A further assassination bid failed on 20 July 1944, forcing John
to flee to Spain, where he again contacted SIS. As he later explained,
‘‘I felt no urge to provide a lone heroic example and become a politi-
cal martyr. In any case the political effect would have been nil. There
was no resistance movement.’’
Arrangements were made by SIS to exfiltrate John from Madrid to
a safe house in Lisbon, but it was raided by the Portuguese secret
police (PIDE) and John was imprisoned as a suspected Royal Air
Force pilot. Under interrogation John acknowledged his true identity,
an admission that was reported to the German embassy and caused a
member of the local Abwehr, Fritz Cramer, to be assigned the task