A superb and highly collectible Austrian diplomatic identity card pair 

issued in Vienna to Lt. Col. F. Noel Mason-MacFarlane, British Military Attaché, 

and his wife Islay Mason-MacFarlane.

Both feature original portrait photographs, official Austrian Bundeskanzleramt stamps, 

typed details and are set in the context of the rise of Nazism in neighbouring Germany. 

Noel Mason-MacFarlane’s orange card is of special interest 

because it also served as a Waffenpass und Jagdkarte - a weapons pass and hunting card.

These named, photographed, officially stamped, pre-WWII, British diplomatic/military ID cards were issued in Vienna in 1934 to one of the most fascinating British intelligence figures of the inter-war period. 

Mason-MacFarlane later was a notable senior British officer, he became Head of Military Intelligence with the BEF and Governor and Commander of Gibraltar city and garrison. The Imperial War Museum holds a Mason-Macfarlane collection including from his time as Military Attaché in Vienna, Budapest and Berne, 1930–1934. See below for further detail. The provenance of the cards is available on request.

Of interest to collectors of diplomatic passports, pre-war identity cards, military attaché documents, official travel papers and European photo ID ephemera.

Size: 12 x 8 cm (closed); 12 x 16 cm (open).

Very good condition, with a little age toning. The orange card back page has some erased pencil mark impressions as shown in the relevant scan. The cards, photographs, stamps and typed details are highly presentable. Please study the photographs carefully as they form part of the description.

Price includes tracked shipping and insurance.

Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Noel Mason-MacFarlane, KCB, DSO, MC & Two Bars (1889–1953) was a distinguished British Army officer, military intelligence specialist, diplomat, wartime administrator and Labour politician. He is especially associated with British military intelligence before and during the Second World War, the defence and governance of Gibraltar, and Allied administration in liberated Italy.

Born 23 October 1889, Frank Noel Mason was educated at Rugby School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1909 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. In February of that year he adopted the hyphenated surname Mason-MacFarlane, reflecting his Scottish maternal family heritage.

During the First World War he served on the Western Front and in Mesopotamia, including the operations connected with the attempted relief of Kut in 1915–16. He emerged from the war as a notably brave and unconventional artillery officer. His decorations included the Military Cross in 1916, a Bar to the MC in 1918, and a second Bar later in 1918, awarded for conspicuous gallantry during reconnaissance under sniper fire. He was also mentioned in despatches and awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

Between the wars he developed a reputation as an able staff officer and intelligence analyst. He attended the Staff College, Quetta, 1919–20, later served in India, and was appointed Military Attaché to Hungary, Austria and Switzerland in 1931. In 1935 he attended the Imperial Defence College, marking him as an officer of high promise. From January 1938 he served as British Military Attaché in Berlin, also covering Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and Denmark. In this role he reported extensively on German rearmament, the Anschluss, the Czechoslovak crisis, and the likelihood of German aggression. He was a notably forceful critic of Nazi Germany and, by 1939, advocated firm resistance to Hitler’s expansionist policy.

In the 1939 New Year Honours Mason-MacFarlane was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath, reflecting his standing before the outbreak of war. At the start of the Second World War he served as Director of Military Intelligence with the British Expeditionary Force, 1939–40. During the Dunkirk campaign he commanded the improvised “Mac Force”, covering the British right flank. For these services he received the Distinguished Service Order.

From July 1940 to March 1941 he was second-in-command of Gibraltar City and Garrison, where he also headed the Joint Intelligence Centre, coordinating Army, Navy and RAF intelligence planning in relation to Spain and the threat of German intervention. He then briefly served as General Officer Commanding, 44th (Home Counties) Division, from April to June 1941.

In June 1941, shortly after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Mason-MacFarlane was appointed Head of the British Military Mission in Moscow. He arrived in Moscow in July 1941 and became an important British military representative to the Soviet Union. Unlike many contemporaries, he judged that the Red Army was more resilient than generally assumed. He also played a significant role in arrangements connected with the transfer of the Polish forces later known as Anders’ Army from the Soviet Union to the Middle East.

His most prominent public office came when he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, serving from 31 May 1942 to 14 February 1944. His governorship coincided with Gibraltar’s crucial wartime role as a fortress, naval base and Allied staging post. While Governor, he witnessed the 4 July 1943 Gibraltar air crash which killed Polish Prime Minister General Władysław Sikorski. In August 1943 he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He was also made a Commander of the United States Legion of Merit and received the Grand Cross of the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta.

In 1944 Mason-MacFarlane served as Chief Commissioner of the Allied Control Commission for Italy, effectively placing him at the centre of Allied administration in liberated Italy. In that office he dealt directly with King Victor Emmanuel III, Crown Prince Umberto, Italian political leaders and Allied representatives. He supported the transfer of royal powers to Umberto and helped facilitate the replacement of Marshal Pietro Badoglio by Ivanoe Bonomi as Prime Minister after the liberation of Rome. His liberal and reform-minded approach brought him into conflict with Winston Churchill, who favoured continuity through the monarchy and Badoglio.

After the war, Mason-MacFarlane entered politics. At the 1945 General Election he was elected Labour Member of Parliament for Paddington North, defeating Brendan Bracken, a close ally of Churchill. Owing to ill health, he resigned from Parliament on 22 October 1946.

Sir Frank Noel Mason-MacFarlane died on 12 August 1953. Contemporary comment described him as one of Britain’s able soldier-administrators. His career combined front-line gallantry, military intelligence, diplomatic reporting, senior command, colonial governorship and post-war political service, making him a significant and highly collectable figure in British military and political history.