The Postcard
A Sunshine Comic postcard that was posted in Deal, Kent on Monday the 5th. August 1963 to:
12, Evelyn House,
Greatorex Street,
London E.1.
The message on the divided back was as follows:
"Dear All,
Having a very tiring
holiday with plenty of
work to be done.
The weather is not too
bad as the sun is
always shining.
See you soon,
Love & kisses,
Steven."
A Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 5th. August 1963, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the first nuclear test ban treaty in Moscow.
The ceremony took place at the Kremlin with U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home, and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko signing on behalf of their respective nations.
A New Land Speed Record
Also on that day, Craig Breedlove became the fastest driver in the world, reaching 428.37 miles an hour for a measured mile in a jet-powered vehicle, Spirit of America, on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
Stephen Ward
Also on the 5th. August 1963, the trial of Stephen Ward was formally closed with no sentence pronounced, following Ward's suicide two days earlier.
Stephen Thomas Ward, who was born on the 19th. October 1912, was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair. This was a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, and contributed to the defeat of the Conservative government a year later.
In 1945, Ward began practising osteopathy in London, and rapidly became prominent and fashionable, with many distinguished clients. In his spare time he also studied at the Slade School and developed a talent for sketching portraits which provided a profitable sideline.
Stephen's practice and his art brought considerable social success, and he made many important friends. Among these was Lord Astor, at whose country house, Cliveden, in the summer of 1961, Ward introduced Profumo to a 19-year-old showgirl and night-club model, Christine Keeler.
Profumo, who was married to the actress Valerie Hobson, embarked on a brief affair with Keeler. Most of their assignations took place in Ward's home in Wimpole Mews.
Ward's friendship with the Soviet military attaché Yevgeny Ivanov, known by MI5 to be an intelligence officer, drew him to the attention of British intelligence, who sought to use him in an attempt to secure Ivanov's defection.
However the matter became complicated when, through Ward, Ivanov met Keeler, raising the possibility of a Profumo–Keeler–Ivanov triangle. Profumo ended his relationship with Keeler, which remained largely unsuspected until early in 1963, when the disintegration of Keeler's private life brought matters to public and press attention.
Profumo denied any impropriety in a statement to the House of Commons, but a few weeks later admitted his affair. He resigned from his ministerial office, parliamentary seat and membership in the Privy Council.
Amid a range of rumours of widespread sex scandals in government and high society, the police began to investigate Ward. In June 1963, he was charged with immorality offences and committed for trial.
During the trial, in July 1963, Ward was abandoned by his society friends and exposed to the contempt and hostility of the prosecuting counsel and judge. Despite the relative paucity of evidence and the dismissal of most of the charges against him, he was convicted on two counts of living off immoral earnings.
Before the verdict was announced, Ward took an overdose of sleeping pills, and died three days later on the 3rd. August 1963.
In 2014, the trial verdict was put under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, but in 2017, the commission decided not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal because the original transcript of the judge’s summing up could not be found.
The Searchers
Also on the 5th. August 1963, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'Sweets for my Sweet' by The Searchers.