Background
Ewen Montagu was the second son of Louis Samuel Montagu, born on March 19, 1901.
Ewen Montagu was the second son of Louis Samuel Montagu, born on March 19, 1901.
He studied economics and law in Cambridge.
In 1924 he was called to the bar and was made a king's counsel in 1939.
His interest in boats led him to join the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, and in 1939 he served as naval intelligence officer at Hull. In 1941 he was posted to the naval intelligence division at the Admiralty where he ran the highly secret branch that handled counter espionage.
He also wrote Beyond Top Secret U (1977), an account of what had been left out of his best-seller.
After the war, Montagu returned to law, becoming judge advocate of the fleet in 1945, a post he held till 1973. He was also appointed to a leading London judicial post as chairman of the Middlesex Quarter Sessions and acquired a formidable reputation for outspokenness on the bench.
Montagu was a devout Jew and was president of the United Synagogue from 1945 to 1962.