452 • RICHARDS, SIR FRANCIS
his final retirement, he was commissioned to writeSecret Flotillas,
the history of the wartime clandestine boat organizations, which was
published in 1996. He died in September 2002, aged 84.See also
RICHARDS, SIR FRANCIS.RICHARDS, SIR FRANCIS.Director ofGCHQfrom 2000 to 2003,
Francis Richards was the son ofSir Brooks Richardsand was edu-
cated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge. He served with the
Royal Green Jackets before he joined the Foreign Office in 1969 to
serve in Moscow and Vienna, and as assistant private secretary to the
foreign secretary, Lord Carrington, from 1980 to 1981. In 2003 he
was appointed governor of Gibraltar.
RICHTER, KAREL.A 29-year-old Sudeten Czech who had lived in
the United States before World War II, Karel Richter parachuted into
Hertfordshire in May 1941 and was arrested the same day. His iden-
tity papers included a genuine Czech passport and documents nam-
ing his as ‘‘Fred Snyder.’’ He was interrogated atCamp 020and
agreed to accompany his captors back to where he had hidden his
parachute, and surrendered a quartz valve he had been instructed to
deliver totate. When confronted with Josef Jakobs, who had been
arrested the previous week and with whom he had trained, Richter’s
resistance collapsed. According to his confession, Richter had been a
marine engineer serving aboard the S.S.Hansawhen the war started,
and his wife was still living in California. He had deserted his ship
inHamburgand had attempted to return to the United States through
Sweden, but had been arrested in Stockholm and deported to Ger-
many. There, he had been placed in a concentration camp until he
was offered the opportunity join theAbwehr. His mission had been
to meettateto deliver the quartz crystal and check that he was not
operating under the enemy’s control. Richter was tried at the Old
Bailey in October 1941 and was hanged at Wandsworth Prison in De-
cember.
RICKETTS, SIR PETER.Chairman of theJoint Intelligence Com-
mitteeandintelligence coordinator to the Cabinetin succession to
Michael Pakenham from June 2000 to 2001, Peter Ricketts was edu-
cated at Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield, and