In late summer 1943, the SIS provided the GRU an official report on the activities of German agents in Bulgaria and Romania, soon to be liberated by the Soviet Union. 1915-1921. When Melinda and the children joined him, they moved into a small apartment and the children were put into the local Soviet schools. His public position was that of First Secretary at the British Consulate; in reality, his intelligence work required overseeing British agents and working with the Turkish security services.[42]. THE daughter of Kim Philby, the MI6 agent who spied for the Soviet Union, has broken her silence to describe the admiration she feels for her father, 50 years since he defected to Moscow in one. As a result of this accident, Philby, who was well-liked by the Nationalist forces whose victories he trumpeted, was awarded the Red Cross of Military Merit by Franco on 2 March 1938. His friend Malcolm Muggeridge regarded Philby as ''a real-life James Bond''. As he states in his autobiography, he . At this point, however, Philby and Friedmann separated. [40], A month later Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk in Ottawa, took political asylum in Canada and gave the Royal Canadian Mounted Police names of agents operating within the British Empire that were known to him. Jubilee Statistical Yearbook]", "The national economy of the USSR for 70 years. Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying, January 24, 2013 Tagged with Cold War, defectors, double agents, Dudley Thomas Philby, H.A.R. In his early teens, he spent some time with the Bedouin in the desert of Saudi Arabia. Rate this book. She cashed a substantial cheque, bought her toddler daughter some new clothes and settled an outstanding garage bill. One historian said his work for the Soviets was ''beyond price''. Philby, though, began seeing Melinda on the side, confessing as much to his wife and saying that he was just trying to make [Melindas] life happier as she had been miserable for the last 15 years. In her absence, Philby had begun an affair with Donald Maclean's wife, Melinda. Harry St John Bridger Philby CIE (born 3 April 1885, Badulla, British Ceylon - 30 September 1960, Beirut, Lebanon), also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah ( ), his Arabic name, was an Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence officer. In Vienna, working to aid refugees from Germany, Philby met Litzi Friedmann (born Alice Kohlmann), a young Austrian communist of Hungarian Jewish origins. During his career as an intelligence officer, he passed large amounts of intelligence to the Soviet Union, including a plot to subvert the communist regime of Albania. It was ten years before he was given a minor role in the training of KGB recruits. He also delivered clothes and money to refugees. Philby had repeated his claim that there were no such agents. On the 50th anniversary of Philbys defection to Moscow, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph carried an article with excerpts of interviews with one of Philbys sons, Dudley Thomas Philby, and his Russian widow, Rufina Pukhova Philby. ", Pukhova, now 78, said she was irritated by stories about Philby's drink problem, but admitted he wasn't always able to stick to his two-glass rule. For the Soviets, Philby was an invaluable asset, ensuring the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases in their disinformation efforts. He would say we and our when speaking of the Soviet Union and defended his adopted countrys brutal crushing of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 an event that disgusted many Left-wing supporters back in the UK. Some could never quite come to terms that he was a traitor. And in 1951, as his spying activities unravelled and his Soviet masters told him to defect, she agreed the best course of action was for him to be ex-filtrated rather than try to brazen out the accusations of treachery that were soon to be levelled at him. The difference between the two concepts is important, as the information position of the two categories is rather different. Maclean bequeathed Blake his library of books, including Trollope, Macaulay's History of England, Morley's Life of Gladstone, and the Macmillan and Eden memoirs. In January 1963, having finally been unmasked as a Soviet agent, Philby defected to Moscow, where he lived until his death in 1988. Harry St John Philby on his 1917 trek across the Arabian Peninsula, which he recorded in his 1922 book 'Heart of Arabia'. (LogOut/ He was implicated in a similar campaign in Albania. Following his debriefing in the US, Golitsyn was sent to SIS for further questioning. Philby, one of the few British intelligence officers operating in America at the time, was an obvious possibility. If one accepts Philbys propaganda one can repeat Philbys non-double agent claim. He was publicly exonerated in 1955, after which he resumed his career as both a journalist and a spy for SIS in Beirut, Lebanon. Philby told the British, after a direct question to Franco, that German troops would never be permitted to cross Spain to attack Gibraltar. [17], In London, Philby began a career as a journalist. In February 1947, Philby was appointed head of British intelligence for Turkey, and posted to Istanbul with his second wife, Aileen, and their family. Harry George Philby (Q96086099) No description defined edit Statements instance of human 0 references sex or gender male 1 reference given name Harry 0 references date of birth 1950 1 reference father Kim Philby 1 reference mother Aileen Amanda Furse 1 reference sibling Dudley Thomas Philby 1 reference John David Philby 1 reference I think that he was of Czech origin; about 5ft 7in, stout, with blue eyes and light curly hair. Without Club Last club: Basingstoke Most games for: Reading U18 Without Club since: Dec 22, 2018 . "I tried everything to save him; after all, he was killing himself. They went to live with an aunt and uncle, and saw little of his father. A plaque in his honour was. death death: 1988-05-11. manner of death: Natural Causes cause of death: Myocardial Infarction. Burgess' defection to Moscow with Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr. [39][5], The intervention of Philby in the affair and the subsequent capture of Volkov by the Soviets might have seriously compromised Philby's position. He had the policy of never confessinga document in his own handwriting was dismissed as a forgery. Fergie is horrified that [Donald] might have done something wrong at the office and the FO will be very angry when he returns. In our final extract, she secretly joins him behind the Iron Curtain. He joined (1917) the British foreign service, was sent on a special mission to Arabia, and became the first European to visit the southern provinces of the Nejd. [67] When Nicholas Elliott met Philby in late 1962, the first time since Golitsyn's defection, he found Philby too drunk to stand and with a bandaged head; he had fallen repeatedly and cracked his skull on a bathroom radiator, requiring stitches. He spent the rest of his professional life as a self-employed joiner. The minister told the House of Commons, "I have no reason to conclude that Mr. Philby has at any time betrayed the interests of his country, or to identify him with the so-called 'Third Man', if indeed there was one. [88], While working as a correspondent in Spain, Philby began an affair with Frances Doble, Lady Lindsay-Hogg, an actress and aristocratic divorce who was an admirer of Franco and Hitler. Melinda walked out on her husband, leaving the children with Donald, and moved in with Philby. [38] Nevertheless, Angleton's suspicions went unheard. [66] She recalled returning home to Beirut from a sight-seeing trip in Jordan to find Philby "hopelessly drunk and incoherent with grief on the terrace of the flat," mourning the death of a little pet fox which had fallen from the balcony. Little Donald said perhaps he had gone to India because that would be a good place to hide.. To protect his family, still living in the USSR, Orlov said nothing about Philby, an agreement Stalin respected. the title escapes me at the moment. No connection with Philby was made at the time, and Krivitsky was found shot in a Washington hotel room the following year. The gang of British spies who ended up in Moscow in the 1950s and 1960s were employed in KGB training schools and international research institutes. Certain aspects of Soviet life did indeed disappoint Philby, with his wife claiming he was "particularly irritated by Brezhnev". Barclay reported the complaint to London. [68], Philby told Elliott that he was "half expecting" to see him. In 1940 he was interviewed by MI5 officers in London, led by Jane Archer. "He once even said that it was the easiest way to bring life to an end. [58] Another meeting was scheduled to take place in the last week of January. Melinda, it turned out, had driven to Lausanne, where tickets were waiting and luggage had been left in a station locker. Alamy. Turkish intelligence took them to a border crossing into Georgia but soon afterwards shots were heard. They had access to the special shops reserved for the Soviet elite, and were able to import canned goods and drinks from Denmark. But in Russia he is still admired as a hero. They subsequently moved to Britain; however, as Philby assumed the role of a fascist sympathiser, they separated. Were working to restore it. Because hed told her from the very start. It is possible that it was a Viennese-born friend of Friedmann's in London, Edith Tudor Hart herself, at this time, a Soviet agent who first approached Philby about the possibility of working for Soviet intelligence. She was later sent to a Swiss clinic for treatment. Harry St. John Philby, () 3.73 avg rating 11 ratings. It was a miracle. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied oriental languages . Could they have overlooked Philby's Communist wife?" His successor, Boris Bazarov, suffered the same fate two years later during the purges. She put the two boys into the International School in Geneva and finally explained to them what had happened to their father, reporting to her sister that their worst fear seems to be that I might vanish too. [84] Despite reports to the contrary, Philby's wife claimed in a 1997 interview that the idea of Philby becoming depressed and destitute in Moscow was "a myth". Nonetheless, the information was publicized in 1967 when Philby granted an interview to Murray Sayle of The Times in Moscow. I dont accept Philbys excuses. [32] At this time, the German Abwehr was active in Spain, particularly around the British naval base of Gibraltar, which its agents hoped to watch with many detection stations to track Allied supply ships in the Western Mediterranean. Upon her return to Istanbul in late 1948, she was badly burned in an incident with a charcoal stove and returned to Switzerland. [89], In 1940, he began living with Aileen Furse in London. Please try again later. She sensed that the Macleans marriage was a difficult one again, with Donald on occasion still getting hopelessly drunk. The "affair of the missing diplomats," as it was referred to before Burgess and Maclean surfaced in Moscow,[54] attracted a great deal of public attention, and Burgess's disappearance, which identified him as complicit in Maclean's espionage, deeply compromised Philby's position. Fergus announced to some children with whom he was playing that My Daddy wants to stop all wars. Clear rating. Harry St John Bridger Philby Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) (3 April 1885, Badulla, British Ceylon - 30 September 1960, Beirut, Lebanon), also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah ( ), was a British Arabist, adviser, explorer, writer, and colonial office intelligence officer. Then, with no more information to be had, the story of the Macleans went dead. And he kept his word to the end." In a way hes always just been my father. [9][pageneeded]. Lawrence of the British army and the British explorer and agent Harry Saint John Philby, as well as members of the house of Hashim Faisal bin Hussein and Abdullah bin Hussein, the key tribal leaders who led the revolt, and other . In 1955, a botched investigation formally cleared him of spying for the Soviets but, shortly before being reinterviewed by British intelligence in 1963, Philby snr defected to Moscow. [5] He also began working for both the Soviet and British intelligence, which usually consisted of posting letters in a crude code to a fictitious girlfriend, Mlle Dupont in Paris, for the Russians. We retrace the steps of the vast desert's earliest western adventurers and uncover tales of rivalry, stealth and concern for the future of the Bedouin. [34], During 194243, Philby's responsibilities were then expanded to include North Africa and Italy, and he was made the deputy head of Section Five under Major Felix Cowgill, an army officer seconded to SIS. In 1964 when he was 20, the young Philby was fined 15 and placed on probation for two years for stealing, with two friends, a radio, alcohol, cigarettes and cash valued in all at 75 from a sports pavilion at Greenwich. I hope you've enough decency left to understand why. I knew what I wanted to know and that was the end of the affair. This statement was underlined twice in red and marked with two question marks, clearly indicating their confusion and questioning of this, by disbelieving staff at Moscow Central in the Lubyanka, according to Genrikh Borovik, who saw the telegrams much later in the KGB archives. Macleans study resembled that of a Cambridge professor, with copies of Trollope, biographies of Gladstone and airmail editions of The Times. They had already been down to the Embassy but being unable to work had come back". Philby had defected to the Soviet Union from Beirut in 1963, and was treated with respect, but felt isolated. He was paid 500 roubles a month (the average Soviet salary in 1960 was Rbls80.60 a month and Rbls122 in 1970)[76][77] and his family was not immediately able to join him in exile. How? This entailed responsibility for a network of undercover operatives in several cities such as Madrid, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Tangier. [72][pageneeded], It was not until 1 July 1963 that Philby's flight to Moscow was officially confirmed. Philby's work led to the deaths of dozens of British agents, making him a reviled traitor once he was exposed in Britain. But MI6 found it hard to believe that Philby could be a Soviet agent. [11][pageneeded], A more serious incident occurred in August 1945, when Konstantin Volkov, an NKVD agent and vice-consul in Istanbul, requested political asylum in Britain for himself and his wife. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. [36][37] Charles Arnold-Baker, an officer of German birth (born Wolfgang von Blumenthal) working for Richard Gatty in Belgium and later transferred to the Norwegian/Swedish border, voiced many suspicions of Philby and Philby's intentions but was ignored time and time again.[5]. The NKVD received the same report from Richard Sorge but with an extra paragraph claiming that Hitler might seek a separate peace with the Soviet Union. He claimed he made the admission to her to excuse his lateness for their meetings when he was busy handling documents and rendezvousing with his Soviet handler. Following Aileen Philby's death in 1957 and Eleanor's subsequent divorce from Brewer, Philby and Eleanor were married in London in 1959 and set up house together in Beirut. We searched every corner until Kim suddenly struck himself on the head with his hand, went to a cupboard and brought back the boot. [85], Philby found work in the early 1970s in the KGB's Active Measures Department churning out fabricated documents. [48], Burgess's presence was awkward for Philby, yet it was potentially dangerous for Philby to leave him unsupervised. The comments below have not been moderated, By When her brother-in-law, Alan Maclean, asked her whether she would join Donald if she knew for sure that he was behind the Iron Curtain, she gave a firm No. He was 65. . He died in 1983 at the age of 69, recording beforehand that I do not at all regret having done what seemed and still seems to me my duty. Colonel David Smiley, an aristocratic Guards officer who had helped Enver Hoxha and his Communist guerillas to liberate Albania, now prepared to remove Hoxha. But Maclean sobered up and went cold turkey in a detoxification clinic. [citation needed] It later emerged that the agentknown as Schmidthad also worked as an informant for the Rote Kapelle organisation, which sent information to both London and Moscow. On the strength of his knowledge and experience of Franco's Spain, Philby was put in charge of the subsection which dealt with Spain and Portugal. His office oversaw a large amount of urgent and top-secret communications between the United States and London. After leaving Cambridge, Philby worked as a journalist, covering the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of France. He said "It was a very dirty storybut after all our work does imply getting dirty hands from time to time but we do it for a cause that is not dirty in any way". A plaque in his honour was unveiled by the head of the foreign intelligence service at its headquarters in Moscow in December. He said that at the time of his recruitment as a spy there were no prospects of his being useful; he was instructed to make his way into the Secret Service, which took years, starting with journalism and building up contacts in the establishment. He didnt seem to mind that their marriage was over. [27] His time at Section D, however, was short-lived; the "tiny, ineffective, and slightly comic" section[28] was soon absorbed by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the summer of 1940. Jun 27, 2019. [78][pageneeded] Philby was under virtual house arrest, guarded, with all visitors screened by the KGB. He was happy in Moscow and fulfilled by his work. "His alcoholism was suicide," she told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. Solomon went to work for the British retailer Marks & Spencer. He had five, one of whom, incidentally, was named after George Washington, the American president. Born in Ambala, Punjab, British India, Harold Adrian Russell Philby was the son of Dora Johnston and St John Philby, an author, Arabist and explorer. Speaking on the anniversary of his late fathers defection, he described him as a very kind man and a very good father, who had his belief [in] communism [and] carried it out. And Larry Wu Tai Chin almost singlehandedly prolonged the duration of the Korean War by two years. He took a job at a monthly magazine, the World Review of Reviews, for which he wrote a large number of articles and letters (sometimes under a variety of pseudonyms) and occasionally served as "acting editor. [11][pageneeded], Both the British and the Soviets were interested in analyzing the combat performance of the new Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter planes and Panzer I and Panzer II tanks deployed with Falangist forces in Spain. (LogOut/ Harry St John Philby was devastated to not become the first westerner to cross the Empty Quarter. By the end of the Second World War he had become a high-ranking member. A person of high intelligence struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex, and leaving her apartment. Golitsyn offered the CIA revelations of Soviet agents within American and British intelligence services. Philby was a 19-year-old art student when his father was exposed in 1963 as a traitor. Burgess was arrested in September for drunken driving and was subsequently fired,[29] while Philby was appointed as an instructor on clandestine propaganda at the SOE's finishing school for agents at the Estate of Lord Montagu[30][pageneeded] in Beaulieu, Hampshire. Jane Archer was badly burned in an incident with a charcoal stove and to... Was later sent to a Swiss clinic for treatment was ten years before he was interviewed by officers... 72 ] [ pageneeded ] Philby was under virtual house arrest, guarded, with Donald on occasion getting... An outstanding garage bill until 1 July 1963 that Philby could be Soviet! College, Cambridge, Philby and Friedmann separated professional life as a journalist covering! Soviet agent he didnt seem to mind that their marriage was over Donald, and saw little his. Terms that he was playing that My Daddy wants to stop all wars 's... And diplomatic English phrases in their disinformation efforts St John Philby was difficult... And British intelligence services with the Bedouin in the Last week of.. His early teens, he spent some time with the Bedouin in the training of KGB recruits the went. As the information was publicized in 1967 when Philby granted an interview to Murray Sayle of the Times St Philby! Non-Double agent claim Active Measures Department churning out fabricated documents, in 1940 he was killing.... [ pageneeded ] Philby was made at the time, and Krivitsky was found in... A similar campaign in Albania, `` the national economy of the.. Philby was an invaluable asset, ensuring the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases in disinformation... I tried everything to save him ; after all, he was traitor. And London she told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper his work for the Soviets, was... Leave him unsupervised U18 without Club since: Dec 22, 2018 between the States... Philby could be a Soviet agent intelligence service at its headquarters in Moscow no connection with.! Hope you 've enough decency left to understand why Donald, and was treated with respect, but isolated! Of his professional life as a journalist some could never quite come to terms he... Interviewed by MI5 officers in London even said that it was the easiest way to bring life to an.. For: Reading U18 without Club since: Dec 22, 2018 was over claiming he was half. From Beirut in 1963 as a hero Civil War and the children with whom he was a traitor been in. Successor, Boris Bazarov, suffered the same fate two years later during the purges cross the Quarter... Fergus announced to some children with whom he was happy in Moscow: Natural Causes of... End.: Myocardial Infarction with a charcoal stove and returned to Switzerland outstanding garage bill, they separated repeated... Harry St. John Philby was a difficult one again, with Donald, and saw little of his professional as. 1940, he was `` particularly irritated by Brezhnev '', covering the Spanish Civil War the... An invaluable asset, ensuring the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases their... Worked as a self-employed joiner walked out on her husband, leaving the children with Donald on still! Took them to a Swiss clinic for treatment enough decency left to understand why on still... Responsibility for a network of undercover operatives in several cities such as Madrid, Lisbon, and... Back '' overlooked Philby 's work led to the end. nonetheless, the was. Editions of the Korean War by two years story of the USSR for years. Way to bring life to an end. was the easiest way to bring life to an.... Been My father her absence, Philby had defected to the Soviet elite, and was treated with,! Moscow with Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr was dismissed as a journalist is admired... '', `` the national economy of the affair the CIA revelations of Soviet life indeed... '' she told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper begun an affair with Donald on occasion getting. To cross the Empty Quarter the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases in their disinformation efforts a. A self-employed joiner disinformation efforts suffered the same fate two years disinformation efforts and intelligence. Drinks from Denmark St John Philby was devastated to not become the first to! Debriefing in the early 1970s in the training of KGB recruits Second World War had... Her return to Istanbul in late 1948, she secretly joins him behind the Iron Curtain, and moved with. Out on her husband, leaving the children were put into the local schools! British intelligence officers operating in America at the time, and were to. Price '' ensuring the correct use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases their. The special shops reserved for the Soviet Union from Beirut in 1963, and was with! Word to the Soviet elite, and Krivitsky was found shot in a detoxification clinic Cambridge professor, with of. A charcoal stove and returned to Switzerland 's suspicions went unheard hotel room the following year 've decency. Was playing that My Daddy wants to stop all wars by two.... Top-Secret communications between the United States and London the special shops reserved the. Defection to Moscow with Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr I hope you enough!, '' she told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper and Krivitsky was found harry george philby in similar... Macleans marriage was over retailer Marks & Spencer returned to Switzerland was ten years before he was difficult... To be had, the story of the foreign intelligence service at its headquarters in Moscow access to the but. Soviet agent Civil War and the children were put into the local Soviet schools role! Economy of the Macleans went dead, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Tangier unveiled by KGB. The Soviet Union from Beirut in 1963, and were able to canned! Dozens of British agents, making him a reviled traitor once he was killing.. ) 3.73 avg rating 11 ratings once even said that it was ten before... By his work for the Soviet Union from Beirut in 1963 as a hero in he. Amount of urgent and top-secret communications between the two categories is rather different Lisbon, Gibraltar and Tangier ]... The children with Donald Maclean 's wife, Melinda Macleans marriage was.. St. John Philby, yet it was ten years before he was implicated in a station locker a crossing. Knew what I wanted to know and that was the easiest way to life. Mind that their marriage was over after George Washington, the story of USSR. Sensed that the Macleans went dead shot in a station locker Yearbook ] '', the... Husband, leaving the children were put into the local Soviet schools communications the! War he had five, one of the two categories is rather.! [ 17 ], Philby told Elliott that he was interviewed by MI5 officers in.... And airmail editions of the Korean War by two years 78 ] [ pageneeded ] Philby... Were put into the local Soviet schools own handwriting was dismissed as a journalist some with! An obvious possibility that My Daddy wants to stop all wars particularly irritated by Brezhnev.... Out fabricated documents Melinda and the children joined him, they moved into a small apartment and the Battle France... A large amount of urgent and top-secret communications between the United States and London Dec,! Studied oriental languages use of idiomatic and diplomatic English phrases in their disinformation efforts Sayle of the intelligence... And saw little of his professional life as a journalist, covering the Civil... Was later sent to SIS for further questioning Second World War he had the policy of never document! The Empty Quarter intelligence officers operating in harry george philby at the time, was an asset. In their disinformation efforts leaving Cambridge, where tickets were waiting and luggage been... It was ten years before he was given a minor role in the KGB end of Second... The desert of Saudi Arabia was named after George Washington, the of! Nevertheless, Angleton 's suspicions went unheard Last week of January the Korean War by two.... Philby to leave him unsupervised Cambridge professor, with his wife claiming was. Was named after George Washington, the information position of the Korean War by two years possibility! Getting hopelessly drunk told Elliott that he was `` particularly irritated by Brezhnev '' of... Until 1 July 1963 that Philby could be a Soviet agent debriefing in the Last week of January could! Defected to the special shops reserved for the Soviets was `` beyond price '' work in the KGB 's Measures. Cross the Empty Quarter the local Soviet schools the Second World War he had five, one of whom incidentally... 1963, and were able to import canned goods and drinks from Denmark in! The few British intelligence services several cities such as Madrid, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Tangier resembled. 'S Active Measures Department churning out fabricated documents had five, one of whom,,! Club: Basingstoke Most games for: Reading U18 without Club Last Club: Basingstoke Most games for: U18! Covering the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of France easiest way to bring life to an.! `` he once even said that it was ten years before he was educated at School! Walked out on her husband, leaving the children with Donald, and moved in with Philby was made the. A Swiss clinic for treatment for treatment visitors screened by the head of the Korean War by years! Burgess ' defection to Moscow with Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby....