Peter Arthur David Baker MC (20 April 1921 – 14 November 1966) was a British soldier, author, publisher and Conservative politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) for South Norfolk.

Baker made another bogus claim, mentioning in his memoirs that St. Luke's Chapel, otherwise known as St-Mary-in-the-Marsh and situated inside Norwich Cathedral, had been the site since 1586[7] of his family weddings and christenings.

The Heaton-Armstrong family belonged to the Anglo-Irish Protestant landowning class and were related to soldier and MP Sir Thomas Armstrong.

[2] He was preparing to study at the University of Cambridge until the imminent outbreak of World War II led him to enlist in the Royal Artillery.

[9] Although he could have taken an immediate commission, Baker and a friend who had joined up at the same time determined to serve at least six months in the ranks[10] before accepting a posting to an Officer Cadet Training Unit in Catterick Garrison in March 1940.

[14] He was assigned to the GHQ Liaison Regiment (known as Phantom),[note 3] a mysterious unit established by Major-General George Frederick Hopkinson, commander of the 1st Airborne Division.

Following training and exercises in Britain, Baker was assigned in June 1943 to the Phantom unit in North Africa at camp Bugeaud in Bône, Algeria.

The unit consisted of three squadrons (E, K and H) and the Assault Detachment under the command of Major Mervyn Sydney Bobus Vernon (1912–1991) of the Grenadier Guards.

Baker, with a small team, drove an unarmoured and lightly armed jeep up to a hundred miles from the forward base to discover the location of German troops.

[16] Late in 1943, the squadron withdrew to Trani, where Baker developed abdominal pains; he was flown back to Britain before Christmas, and was given four weeks' sick leave before being passed as fit for sedentary duty only.

[17] Baker, code named "Harrier", was recruited by MI9 to work with IS9 (WEA) (or Room 900), a unit formed by Airey Neave and Jimmy Langley dedicated to helping downed allied airmen and stranded soldiers escape German-occupied Europe.

[18] In 1944, Baker participated in Operation Marathon, led by Neave, that rescued a group of 152 Allied pilots who were hidden in the Fréteval Forest near Châteaudun.

[19][20] In early October, Neave moved their unit to just west of Nijmegen,[21] and obtained permission to send Baker through enemy lines to make contact with the Dutch Resistance.

Baker's superiors were furious that his disobedience threatened the rescue, Operation Pegasus, of hundreds of British paratroopers stranded in German-controlled territory.

[35] The three had got 60 km away from their camp after two days, when they were detected by a German soldier, and failed in their bluff of being 'Men of confidence' (who were trusted to take charge of other prisoners of war).

Baker decided to reveal his real identity long before he was given over to the Gestapo, to avoid mistreatment in their hands;[36] however he believed they were only saved from being shot as spies when the farmer where they were discovered objected to the shooting happening on his land.

[37] He was sent to Stalag X-B at Sandbostel where he was interrogated with violence, and then spent 35 days in solitary confinement in multiple prisons before finally going to Oflag 79.

Baker gained permission to make his own way home and drove in a requisitioned Mercedes to Venlo, from where he flew to Ghent and then back to London.

[42] On 2 August 1945, Captain Peter Baker (148257) of the Intelligence Corps, Staplehurst, Kent was awarded the Military Cross in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North-West Europe.

Baker later adopted the pseudonym Colin Strang to edit two anthologies and write poetry reviews for newspapers and magazines, until he was posted to Africa.

[48] He was a frequent visitor at the Thursday Club,[49] a raffish luncheon club located at Wheeler's oyster bar, in Old Compton Street, London, a men's eating and drinking group dedicated to "Absolute Inconsequence";[note 4] other members included the actors David Niven, James Robertson Justice and Peter Ustinov, the future Duke of Edinburgh, the intelligence officer Kim Philby, celebrity photographer Stirling Henry Nahum, (known as Baron) and Baker's friend, Colonel Sean Fielding, editor of Tatler magazine and later of the Daily Express.

[51] He added an epilogue written late in 1945, giving some of his diary entries for the latter part of the war and reflecting on the impact of peace on the purposefulness of the wartime generation.

[61][62] When he had arrived back in Britain at the end of the war, Baker's doctor had given him a check-up and told him to take six months' rest, the first half in bed, as his heart was in a poor condition.

[63] Baker suffered a nervous breakdown in 1954, which he ascribed to his excessive workload as both a member of parliament and a businessman single-handedly running many companies (which were in financial difficulties).

He blamed his bankruptcy on the withdrawal of support by Sir Bernard Docker, and at the end of his evidence he asserted that his plea of guilty had been incorrect.

[74] During his evidence, Baker had told the court that he intended to petition for a retrial;[76] he had previously decided that he would only do so after he had been expelled from the House of Commons, and a by-election in South Norfolk and a general election had been held.

[78] Baker duly petitioned to the Home Secretary in May 1955, asking for either a retrial, an appeal out of time (with permission to change his plea to not guilty), a public inquiry, or an immediate release.

[86] From there Baker sent a request to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking that his case be referred to the Committee of Privileges, to inquire into why he pleaded guilty and to allegations of perjury and withholding of evidence.

[91] Shortly after his release he gave an interview to the Daily Express,[note 6] in which he declared his intention to bring back his wife and children from Australia, where they had moved without warning in the summer of 1958, leaving no address but arranging for letters to be forwarded through a bank.

[103] In March 1961, he was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving,[note 7] having knocked down a pedestrian on a crossing in the Strand; Baker said that he overtook a taxi whose driver had signalled to him that it was safe to do so.