Dr. Rohan D'Olier Butler (1917-1996), Historical Adviser to theSecretary ofState for Foreign (and later Commonwealth) Affairs from1963 to 1982 and Fellowof All Souls, Oxford from 1938 to 1984, wasdescribed on his death as 'amagisterial figure of penetratingintellect'. His scholarly endeavours in the field of 18th centuryFrench history culminated in 1980 with the publication ofhis monumentalwork Choiseul: Father and Son 1719-1754, a study both of theearly yearsof Louis XV's chief minister and the intellectual climate of histimes.In recognition of the excellence of Choiseul, Rohan Butler was in1982awarded a Laureate of the Academie des Sciences Morales etPolitiques in Paris– the first person outside of France to receive suchan honour, and a uniquedistinction for a work written in English.

Appointed by the Foreign Office in 1963 as Historical Adviser (a postwhichhad been in abeyance since 1929), Dr. Butler became Senior Editorof theForeign Office series Documents on British Foreign Policy and wasinstrumentalin continuing this into the post-war period as Documents onBritish PolicyOverseas. Dr. Butler also produced a number ofauthoritative internal memorandaon such diverse subjects as theRelinquishment of Abadan in 1951, the status ofStettin and mostsignificantly in the context of this history, the KatynMassacre.

This previously unpublished memorandum was prepared in response to anupsurgein public and Parliamentary interest in Katyn during 1971 and1972. The firstdraft of the memorandum, comprising some 35 paragraphs,was submitted inSeptember 1972. But following detailed comment fromother FCO experts, and inthe light of the growing controversy over theKatyn Memorial project describedearlier in this history, Rohan Butlerrevised and extended his memorandum,taking the Katyn story up to theautumn of 1972. The memorandum was finallyprinted for internalcirculation in the Departmental Series of Eastern Europeanand SovietDepartment as DS 2/73, dated 10 April 1973. It is reproduced here initsentirety with its original footnotes and annexes.