Memo from Hilda Matheson to John Reith regarding HG Wells broadcast

Hilda Matheson, Director of Talks, reassures Director General John Reith that any controversy raised by Mr Wells's address will be countered by a Vernon Bartlett broadcast the following day.

At this time, journalist Vernon Bartlett was also the director of the London office of the League of Nations, a role he held from 1922 until 1932. In 1933, Bartlett caused controversy within the BBC, where he worked as a radio correspondent. In a news report about Germany walking out of the Geneva Disarmament Conference and leaving the League of Nations, Bartlett suggested that Britain might have acted in a similar way, should the country have been in the same position as Germany. The ensuing storm saw protests by politicians and criticism in the press. Bartlett subsequently resigned.