Mike Lesser obituary

On 16 February 1963, my friend Mike Lesser, who has died aged 71, was one of the "Spies for Peace" who broke into the then secret regional seat of government (RSG-6) near Reading in Berkshire. The result, that Easter, was the publication of the pamphlet "Danger! Official Secret! RSG-6", which revealed - with phone numbers and names - the administrative network of underground bunkers prepared for a nuclear strike. RSG-6 was besieged by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Aldermaston marchers, Vanessa Redgrave declaimed from the pamphlet, and the activists were officially denounced as traitors.

Mike, scientist and anarcho-communist, was then the youngest member of the Committee of 100 - non-violent campaigners against nuclear weapons - and had already served a jail term in Wormwood Scrubs prison following a Whitehall protest. After the RSG-6 break-in he spent six months hiding out on the German North Sea coast. None of the Spies for Peace was ever charged, but it would be 2010 before Mike spoke of his role.