Bernard Samson

Bernard Samson was a senior official at London Central, headquarters of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. Bernard attended German schools in Berlin instead of attending schools back in England. As a result, he had no close contacts from his youth among Englishmen. The English who knew him considered him to be German; the Germans considered him to be English. He had begun working for the SIS when his father, Brian Samson, put him to work as an agent for the Berlin Field Unit when Bernard was still a teenager. Following a particularly close encounter in Berlin, Bernard was reassigned to a desk position at London Central. In spite of his years of field service and his elevated position at the headquarters, Bernard did not have a permanent appointment in the civil service.

Commentary
At the start of the Samson series, Bernard is two weeks from his 40th birthday [Berlin Game chap 4]. With no small irony, a self-description reads as follows: ‘Bernard Samson, a serious young man with baby face, wavy hair and horn-rimmed glasses looked nothing like the wrinkled old fool I shaved every morning’ and ‘It was just as well that I was tall, for I was getting fatter’ [Berlin Game chap 1].

Even making allowances for Bernard’s sense of humour and banter with close associates, at the beginning of the three trilogies he is prepared to share his misgivings about the competence of those at the top of London Central: “''Maybe they know things we don’t know,’ said Werner. ‘You’re right…They know that the service is run by idiots.’ He also shows flashes of resentment against University-educated colleagues: ‘He was new to Berlin…just finished a year at Oxford, lecturing on political commentary and all that statistical bullshit the new kids start handing out the moment they arrive.’ [Berlin Game chap 1] Nor is he complementary about how the Berlin Field Unit is being run: ‘It’s all changed since Frank Harrington took over. They are youngsters, kids with no field experience and lots and lots of theories from the training school.’ [Berlin Game'' chap 2]

Nonetheless Bernard regularly demonstrates a deep sense of professional duty – here responding to Fiona Samson’s allegation that he owes nothing to the human source, Brahms Four: ‘''I owe him…I know that, and so does he. That’s why he’ll trust me in a way he’ll trust no one else’ and ‘if someone else goes - some kid from the Berlin office – and something bad happens. How will I ever be sure that I couldn’t have made it come out okay?’ [quotes Berlin Game'' chap 4]

Unfortunately, a direct consequence of all Bernard invests into his work responsibilities is the risk of being accused by his wife of valuing his family less: ‘''And what about what you owe me? And what you owe Billy and Sally?’ [Berlin Game'' chap 4]

Through Bernard’s wife and father, his family has long and deep links to Silas Gaunt. We learn the Samsons’ son Billy is Silas’ godchild and that ‘We saw a lot of him’ [Berlin Game, Chap 4] – please see Silas’ own page for a fuller summary of his relationship to Fiona Samson, including discussion of the ambiguity around whether 'Uncle Silas’ is actually family, and plot implications surrounding this.

It is unclear quite what Silas was about to communicate to Bernard, albeit in front of Bret and Dicky, when their discussion about Brahms Four was interrupted. Certainly Bernard suspected he was ‘about to say something quite different.’ [Berlin Game chap 4]

Notwithstanding Bernard often slipping into overt scepticism he can reveal a vulnerable side, such as telling his wife: “Werner sends his best wishes…He likes you’…It wasn’t exactly true, but I wanted her to like him as I did’ [Berlin Game Chap 2]. Despite spending his entire life in a job and world where discerning people’s motivations is critical, Bernard acknowledges a key vulnerability: ‘''I suppose I will never understand women. The trouble is that they understand me…too damned well.’ [Berlin Game'' Chap 2]

 Bernard under pressure 

The reader finds Bernard in a comfortable-sounding situation at the start of the trilogies: ‘You’re senior staff now, darling’ Fiona Samson says to her husband. ‘You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to’ [Berlin Game chap 2]. Indeed, explaining that he hasn’t worked in the field for nearly five years, he describes himself as ‘a desk man now’ [Berlin Game chap 3]. Nonetheless, he continues to holds fears that his rivals on the other side of the Iron Curtain may still wish him harm: ‘''My face is too well-known there. And I’m getting too bloody short-winded for any strong-arm stuff.’ [Berlin Game'' chap 2]

What is unclear then is the impact a couple of decades of operating covertly in the field might have had on Bernard; referring to his current boss, he says ‘How the hell can you explain to a man like Cruyer what it’s like to be afraid day and night, year after year?’ [Berlin Game chap 3]. One of the historical operations that appears to have re-triggered trauma in Bernard occurred when ‘''Brahms Four took me to the house of…Karl Busch…in Weimar. We stayed there three days and afterwards…they took Busch up to the security barracks in Leipzig. He was never seen again.’ [Berlin Game'' chap 2]

What’s more, there are multiple attempts by people close to Bernard to encourage him to switch his stressful work for London Central for an easier life - referring to Bernard’s wife, Werner Volkmann is the first in a long line: ‘''Isn’t her father some kind of tycoon? Couldn’t he find a nice soft job for you in his office?’ Better than sitting out here freezing to death in a Berlin side street.’ [Berlin Game Chap 1] Fiona for her part proposes, unbidden, that she relieve some of the pressure on him, in the process treating him almost like a child: ‘I’ll phone the office in the morning and say you are not well. It will give you time to think.’ [Berlin Game'' Chap 2]

Other pressures mounting on Bernard include: Regularly being contacted by the bank manager about being overdrawn [Berlin Game Chap 2].

Standout quotes include
Bernard never spoke a truer word than when he says ‘Strange things happen in the place where I go to work '  [Spy Hook, Chapter 19]