I was not a Nazi collaborator, PG Wodehouse told MI5

[oldironside]

PG Wodehouse was questioned by MI5 as a suspected collaborator for broadcasting from Berlin during the second world war. The creator of Jeeves protested that he was shocked and dismayed at the criticism his broadcasts had provoked in Britain.

How the cosy world of Bertie Wooster collided with harsh reality is revealed in MI5 files released today at the National Archives. "I thought that people, hearing the talks, would admire me for having kept cheerful under difficult conditions," he said in a statement for MI5 in 1944.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/26/pg-wodehouse-denied-collaborator

Either living in a world of his own, or a second-class liar. "I thought people would admire me for remaining cheerful under difficult conditions." has more than a touch of David Brent about it.

[non sociopath skin]

1. In spite of his wit, I don't think Plum was the brightest light on the Christmas tree ...

... and may genuinely have thought he was doing the best he could in the circumstances.

Many famous writers had a much dodgier relationship with the Nazis: it's sometimes hard for us armchair warriors to realise how much of a winner Hitler looked in the early forties and to be honest with ourselves about how we Brits would have behaved after an invasion.

There but for the grace of God ...

The Skin