William Strang, 1st Baron Strang
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang (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. During the 1930s he