Betty Searle
Character: Betty Searle
You have been subpoenaed to appear before the Royal Commission on Espionage. A subpoena is a formal written order issued by a court commanding a person to appear under penalty as a witness in a trial or an inquiry such as a Royal Commission.
Betty Searle and Rupert Lockwood at the Royal Commission on Espionage, 1955.
Photographer – Jack Hickson. Image courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.
All three members of the group will work closely together to prepare for the Character to appear before the Royal Commission. This will involve:
Preparing a speech (testimony) which outlines, from your point of view:
who you are;
- your views on communism and the USSR (Soviet Union);
- the effects of the naming of your husband in association with the Affair; and
your understanding of the response of Australians to communism and the events of the Petrov Affair.
Preparing evidence (facts, documents etc) that supports your case.
You will be called when the Royal Commissioners are ready for you.
Be prepared to answer any questions from the Royal Commissioners especially about Soviet espionage in Australia.
Background
Betty Searle, along with many other Australians, was affected by the Cold War.
A Physicist would be best out of it George Briggs and the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission by Tim Sherratt (an account of George Briggs being called before the Royal Commission on Espionage in 1954).
Resources:
- The National Times – An Open Letter to Mrs Combe (the wife of David Combe, of the David Combe Affair), 27 May – 2 June 1983.
- ABC’s Time Frame – War on Dissent
- The ACT Legislative Assembly – The Death of Betty Searle