William Strang , 1st Baron Strang William Strang , 1st Baron Strang , GCMG , KCB , MBE ( 2 January 1893 — 27 May 1978 ) was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under - Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953 . Early life and education . Strang was the eldest son of James Strang , a farmer , and his wife Margaret Steven , daughter of William Steven . He was educated at Palmer ' s School , University College , London and at the Sorbonne . Military and diplomatic career . Strang was commissioned into the Worcestershire Regiment in 1915 and served in the First World War . He ended the war as a Captain . In 1919 , he joined the Diplomatic Service and served at the British embassy in Belgrade from 1919 to 1922 , at the Foreign Office from 1922 to 1930 and at the embassy in Moscow from 1930 to 1933 . During his time in Moscow he played an important role in the Metro - Vickers engineers trial , in which six British engineers were accused of spying . He returned to the Foreign Office in 1933 , and held office as head of the League of Nations section until 1937 and of the Central Department from 1937 to 1939 . From 1939 to 1943 he was assistant under - secretary of state for Europe . During the 1930s he was an adviser to the government at the major international meetings , and met Mussolini , Hitler and Stalin . He was a tacit opponent of appeasement , but always stayed loyal to the government . He continued as an adviser during and after the Second World War and was present at the major conferences between the Allied leaders . In 1943 Strang was appointed the British representative on the European Advisory Commission , with the rank of ambassador . The commission was set up by the Allies to study the possible post - war political problems in Europe and make recommendations . In this role Strang was considered a great success . The commission was dissolved at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 and Strang was appointed political adviser to the Commander - in - Chief of British forces in Germany , Bernard Montgomery . Strang again returned to the Foreign Office in 1947 and served as Permanent Under - Secretary of State for the German section from 1947 to 1949 and as Permanent Under - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1949 to 1953 . The six years Strang served as Permanent Under - Secretary of State saw the gradual recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan , the establishment of the Western European Union and NATO and the breaking of the Berlin blockade . He retired from the Foreign Office in 1953 . Honours . While serving as an army captain , Strang was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire ( MBE ) in 1918 . was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George ( CMG ) in 1932 , a Commander of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) in 1939 , a KCMG in 1943 , a GCMG in 1950 and a KCB in 1953 . In 1954 , he was raised to the peerage as Baron Strang , of Stonesfield in the County of Oxford . He later served as a Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords and as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers . He was also Chairman of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and of the college committee of University College , London . He published " The Foreign Office " ( 1955 ) , " Britain in World Affairs " ( 1961 ) and " Diplomatic Career " ( 1962 ) as well as his autobiography " Home and Abroad " ( 1956 ) . Family and legacy . In 1920 , he married Elsie Wynne Jones , daughter of Josias E . Jones . They had one daughter and one son , Colin , who succeeded him in the barony . Because of standing up for Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn ( in the meetings of the European Advisory Committee held in London ) so that it did not become part of the Soviet occupation zone , as was Stalin ' s wish , William Strang is highly revered on the island , although he never visited it during his lifetime . Lord Strang died at the age of 85 .