ABSTRACT
LEES MAYALL (Sir Lees Mayall) who had joined the diplomatic service before the war might, by those who did not know him well, have been written off as a typical Foreign Office toff. His second wife Mary was the sister of Lord Harlech, British Ambassador in Washington. He had known both Burgess and Maclean and his leg had been broken as a result of an incident involving Maclean in Cairo, but his loyalties were not in doubt. He enjoyed the good things of life and was full of curiosity. He became an amused and amusing observer of life in Japan when he and Mary went to Japan in 1958. They stayed until 1961. In his memoir, Fireflies in Amber, published in 1989 by Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd in Salisbury, shortly before he died, he described his reactions to Japan:-
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