Russian Roulette: How British Spies Thwarted Lenin's Plot for Global Revolution (48 page)

4: Know Thy Enemy

Buchanan,
My Mission
; Pitcher,
Reminiscences
; Pipes,
Russian Revolution
; Hill,
Go Spy
.

The internal organisation of Cumming’s office is covered in detail by Jeffrey,
MI6
. Freddie Browning’s obituary was published in
The Times
, 15 October 1929. Inter-departmental rivalries are dealt with in considerable detail both in Jeffrey’s
MI6
and
Judd’s
Quest
. There is also much on Macdonogh in Andrew,
Secret Service
.

Lockhart;
Memoirs.
Lockhart’s time in Russia is dealt with in some detail by Gordon Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
. See also Hill,
Go Spy
; Chambers,
Ransome
; Brogan,
Signalling
. Wardrop’s account of Lockhart’s employment is in FO/371/3331.

Extracts from Cumming’s
Notes on Instruction and Recruiting of Agents
are published in Jeffrey,
MI6
.

The most accessible general book on the Cheka remains George Leggett’s
Cheka
. See also Lockhart,
Memoirs
.

PART TWO: MASTERS OF DISGUISE

5: The Man with Three Names

Much has been written about Reilly: see Reilly,
Master Spy
; Cook,
Ace of Spies
; Bruce Lockhart,
Ace of Spies
; Thwaites,
Velvet
; Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
; Smith,
Six
; Service,
Spies
.

Reilly was also the subject of a popular 1983 television mini-series called
Reilly: Ace of Spies
, starring Sam Neill.

Lockhart
, Memoirs
; Hill,
Go Spy
. Smith’s
Six
has information about Boyce and operations inside Russia. The account of the Congress of Soviets is derived from the eyewitnesses who were there, as well as Chambers,
Double Life.

6: A Double Life

George Hill’s lengthy report into his undercover work in Russia, with details of safe houses and the courier system, can be found in the National Archives: FO/371/3350. See also Hill,
Go Spy
; Reilly,
Master Spy
; Cook,
Ace of Spies
; Bruce Lockhart,
Ace of Spies
; Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
; Smith,
Six
.

The question of how best to deal with Russia is dealt with in considerable detail in Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
. Lockhart sets out his own position in FO/371/3337 and
Memoirs
. Moura’s life has been the subject of a 2005 biography by Nina Berberova entitled:
Moura: The Dangerous Life of the Baroness Budberg
(New York, 2005). I am grateful to one who knew Moura for background information about her life.

The story of Ransome’s trip to Vologda occupies an entire chapter of his autobiography. It is also dealt with in some detail by Chambers’
Last Englishman,
as well as by Lockhart’s
Memoirs
. Lockhart’s request for help for Evgenia is to be found in NA: KV2/1903. This file contains much fascinating and hitherto unknown information about Ransome. The MI5 file on Ransome has also been released into the public domain: it can be found at KV2/1904.

There is a great deal of information on the internment of British nationals in the NA. See FO/371/3336 for a list of prisoners and more.

7: Mission to Tashkent

This chapter is derived from a number of sources: Bailey,
Mission
; Hopkirk,
Setting the East Ablaze
; Swinson,
Bailey
, and records in the India Office Collections. I found the following particularly useful: IOR/L/PS/10/722, Bailey’s report on his missions to Tashkent (2 vols.) and IOR/L/PS/10/741, a massive collection of material pertaining to Bailey’s mission.

There is also a wealth of information in Daniel C. Waugh’s excellent monograph
Etherton at Kashgar: Rhetoric and Reality in the History of the Great Game
, Bactrian Press (Seattle, 2007). This is on-line at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/ethertonatkashgar2007.pdf

There is a fascinating account of life in Tashkent at this time in Brun,
Troublous Times
. Also of interest is George Macartney, ‘Bolshevism as I saw it at Tashkent’ published in the
Journal of the Royal Asia Society
, vol. 7, nos. 2–3 (1920).

8: Going Underground

George Hill’s account is in
Go Spy
and also in his fascinating long report to London, National Archives: FO/371/3350. See also Smith,
Six
.

The so-called Lockhart plot has received extensive coverage, not just by the players themselves but also in secondary accounts. First-hand published accounts include: Lockhart,
Memoirs
; Hill,
Go Spy
; Reilly,
Master Spy
.

There are several key documents in the NA. FO/371/3348 includes Lockhart’s own report; FO/371/3337 has much additional information, including many documents from the Russian point of view. See also FO/371/3336, in which Zinoviev calls the British ‘a disgusting stinking lump of filth.’

The fullest secondary account is in Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
, although not everyone will agree with the author’s conclusions. The plot has also been the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary:
Document: The Lockhart Plot
(March 2011), on-line at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zlfkt

9: Vanishing Trick

This chapter is derived from a number of sources: Bailey,
Mission
; Hopkirk,
Setting the East Ablaze
; Swinson,
Bailey
, and records in the India Office Collections, notably as above, IOR/L/PS/10/722, Bailey’s own report (2 vols.) and IOR/L/PS/10/741.

10: The Plot Thickens

Reilly’s account of events is in
Master Spy
; Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
, also has details of the embassy raid. Nathalie Bucknall’s dramatic account of Captain Cromie’s death, dated 1 September 1918, is in NA: FO/371/3336. There are relevant documents in FO/371/3337, including Wardrop’s report into the incident and reports by Lockhart and Mr Kimens of the Dutch Legation. This file also contains many Russian newspaper reports, notably those from
Pravda
.

The story of the aftermath of the raid – notably what happened to George Hill’s female couriers – is detailed in Cook,
Ace of Spies
. This includes previously unknown material from the Russian archives. Hill,
Go Spy
; Reilly,
Master Spy
, and Brook-Shepherd,
Iron Maze
, also have accounts of the aftermath. Important new information is to be found in Orlov,
March
. Lockhart,
Memoirs
, gives a full account of his own predicament. There is much additional information in NA: FO/371/3334 and FO/371/3337.

11: A Deadly Game

Paul Dukes,
Red Dusk
, provides details about Merrett (whom he refers to as Marsh). There is much information of interest in the NA. Mr Woodhouse’s report is in FO/71/3975. Paul Dukes’s reports are in ADM/223/637. This includes such notable intelligence successes as intercepts between Trotsky and Admiral Altavater (CX062092). See also T/161/30 for letters and memoranda.

The internal battles fought by Cumming are detailed by Jeffrey,
MI6
; Judd,
Quest
; and Andrew,
Secret Service
.

Hill,
Go Spy
; Smith,
Six
; Judd,
Quest
. Dukes’s story of his induction into the secret service is recounted in his two books,
ST 25
and
Red Dusk
.

Ransome,
On Behalf
and
Autobiography
; Chambers,
Last Englishman
; Smith,
Six
. In particular, see the recently released intelligence files on Ransome in the NA: KV2/1903 and KV2/1904. This latter contains the MI5 files on Ransome.

12: Toxic Threat

Bailey’s own account is in
Mission
; see also Swinson,
Beyond
, and Hopkirk’s excellent
Setting the East
. Much of the information about Bailey’s mission has been gathered from original reports, letters and memos. These are scattered through the India Office collections, but the most important files are: IOR/L/PS/10/722, Bailey’s report on his missions to Tashkent (2 vols.) and IOR/L/PS/10/741. This latter is a massive collection of material about Bailey’s mission and also about Malleson’s work.

I consulted dozens of files on British espionage activities in Central Asia. The most pertinent were the following files: IOR/L/PS/825 (Kashgar Diaries 1912–20) and IOR/L/PS/976 (Kashgar Diaries 1921–30); IOR/L/MIL/17/14/91/2 (Bolshevik activities in Central Asia 1919), IOR/L/PS/10/836 (Bolshevik Activities in Central Asia, Dec 1919–Feb 1920); IOR/L/PS/11/159 (Bolshevik Propaganda in Central Asia) IOR/L/PS/10/741 (Bolshevik Activities in Central Asia).

There are many documents relating to Afghanistan in the above files. The most detailed published account of the Afghan offensive and the British Indian defence is written by Molesworth,
Afghanistan
. A copy of the treaty (and negotiations) can be found on-line:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anglo-afghan-treaty-of-1921-the-outcome-of-peace-negotiations-following-the-third-anglo-afghan-war

PART THREE: THE PROFESSIONAL SPY

13: Master of Disguise

Dukes writes about his mission in
ST25
and
Red Morrow
. A number of his intelligence reports are to be found in the NA. See ADM 223/637 and ADM 1/8563/208. See also FO/371/4375; it contains many documents from the Political Intelligence Department on the situation inside Russia. FO/608/195/7 has many reports on conditions inside Soviet Russia. FO/236/59 contains Mr Woodhouse’s report on conditions in Petrograd.

Ransome,
Autobiography
;
Six Weeks
;
Signalling
; Chambers,
Last Englishman
. Ransome’s principal intelligence report, ‘Report on the State of Russia’, can be found in NA: FO/371/4002A. This file also contains several reports by ST 25 (Paul Dukes) on conditions inside the country. Dukes later wrote numerous reports for
The Times
, all of which are now indexed on
The Times
database. The most informative are ‘Bolshevism at Close Quarters’ (15 October 1919 – part of an eight-part series) and ‘Designs for Asia: Bolshevist Interest in the East’ (15 January 1920). This latter article quotes an important memo written by Karakhan.