In December 1937, during the Battle of Teruel, a Republican shell hit just in front of the car in which Philby was travelling with the correspondents Edward J. Neil of the Associated Press, Bradish Johnson of Newsweek, and Ernest Sheepshanks[21] of Reuters. Melinda put the bravest of faces on her situation when she wrote to her still grief-stricken mother that she understood the suffering she had caused. I was serving the interests of the Soviet Union and those interests required that these men were defeated. Garbo/Pujol of WW II fame was a double agent, i.e. Philby had to help discover the identity of "Homer" but also wished to protect Maclean. Kim Philby, the most successful of the Cambridge spies, tried to drink himself to death in Moscow because he was disillusioned with communism and tortured by his own failings, his last wife has said in an interview. It was ten years before he was given a minor role in the training of KGB recruits. She would be his silent witness for all the difficult years ahead. Filed under A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008 Working from genuine unclassified and public CIA or US State Department documents, Philby inserted "sinister" paragraphs regarding US plans. [48], Burgess's presence was awkward for Philby, yet it was potentially dangerous for Philby to leave him unsupervised. By 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. After the magazine's owner changed the paper's role to covering Anglo-German trade, Philby engaged in a concerted effort to make contact with Germans such as Joachim von Ribbentrop, at that time the German ambassador in London. You can give that to the International Organisation for Aid for Revolutionaries. Henry was born circa 1823, in Loughton, Essex, England. He had five, one of whom, incidentally, was named after George Washington, the American president. [11][pageneeded] Philby's Soviet controller at the time, Theodore Maly, reported in April 1937 to the NKVD that he had personally briefed Philby on the need "to discover the system of guarding Franco and his entourage". burial place . The comments below have not been moderated, By He was a sad traitor. The organization was one of several fronts operated by German communist Willi Mnzenberg, a member of the Reichstag who had fled to France in 1933. Theirs had always been a stormy marriage, punctuated by bad behaviour on both sides and terrible rows. Matthew Tomkinson / Heart of Arabia Expedition. When Jane Archer (who had interviewed Krivitsky) was appointed to Philby's section he moved her off investigatory work in case she became aware of his past. He didnt seem to mind that their marriage was over. 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. That he could carry on a secret life without her being aware, while at the same time working his way up the ranks of the British Foreign Office, seemed perfectly possible. [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. [11][pageneeded]. 'in Russian", "The Cambridge Spies' West Hampstead connection", "Kim Philby: new revelations about spy emerge in secret files", "Spies Philby's widow tells of an Englishman's life in exile", "Moscow square named after notorious British double agent Kim Philby", "A Cold War Mystery: Was the Soviet Mole Kim Philby a Double Agent or a Triple Agent? She made some calculations and announced, "That will leave you an excess of 25. [50] Burgess was sent back to England, where he met Maclean in his London club. Harry St John Philby was devastated to not become the first westerner to cross the Empty Quarter. 4 Comments. Please try again later. In early May 1951, Burgess got three speeding tickets in a single daythen pleaded diplomatic immunity, causing an official complaint to be made to the British Ambassador. Aileen died in 1957, when Tommy was just 11 years old; his contact with his father was cut off as soon as the double spy defected to the USSR in January 1963. "There was one funny incident," she remembered. Change). Given all that Melinda had gone through, the pity she had had to accept and the dissembling she had had to practise, that first meeting overseen by Soviet officials was a strained affair. When young Philby's mother died in 1957, none of her children was invited to the funeral, and he never knew where she was buried. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviets.[2]. She flirted with other men and had affairs. They subsequently moved to Britain; however, as Philby assumed the role of a fascist sympathiser, they separated. His ashes were brought back to England, as he had requested, and buried in his parents grave after dark and by torchlight so that the press would not get wind of it. To order a copy for 15, visit mailshop.co.uk/ books or call 0844 571 0640. OX2 6JF 1 Reference code: GB165-0229 Title: Harry St John Philby Collection Name of creator: Philby, Harry St John Bridger (1885-1960) Explorer and Orientalist Dates of creation of material: c1902-1957 Level of description: Fonds Extent: 89 boxes Biographical history: PHILBY, Harry St John Bridger (1885-1960) document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008. He was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1934. 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. Harry St John Bridger Philby, CIE (3 April 1885 - 30 September 1960), also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah ( Arabic: ), was a British Arabist, adviser, explorer, writer, and a colonial intelligence officer who served as an advisor to King Abdulaziz al-Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia . Harry had 6 siblings: Mary B Philby, Kathleen V Philby and 4 other siblings. David Pryce-Jones: October 2004: The New Criterion published by the Foundation for Cultural Review, New York, a nonprofit public foundation as described in Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, London Gazette Issue 43735 published on 10 August 1965. p. 1, Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 18:55, plot to subvert the communist regime of Albania, Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 19411945", "Philby, Harold Adrian Russell [Kim] (19121988), spy", Cricinfo Player Profile of Ernest Sheepshanks, "Kim Philby, British double agent, reveals all in secret video", "Kim Philby, the Observer connection and the establishment world of spies", " 70 [1987, DjVu, RUS] [The national economy of the USSR for 70 years. [74] When the news broke, MI6 came under criticism for failing to anticipate and block Philby's defection, though Elliott was to claim he could not have prevented Philby's flight. After Donald Maclean fled to Moscow to escape arrest in Britain as the spy who, for 15 years, had passed state secrets to the Soviet Union, friends of his wife, Melinda, found it easy to believe that she knew nothing of her husbands treachery. Macleans outward calm in the face of exile was greatly bolstered by his wifes support. [63] From 1960, Philby's formerly marginal work as a journalist became more substantial and he frequently travelled throughout the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen. All was reasonably well between them until Kim Philby the master-spy who recruited him back in their Cambridge days himself defected in 1963. Philby had repeated his claim that there were no such agents. A plaque in his honour was. Volkov's defection had been discussed with the British Embassy in Ankara on telephones which turned out to have been tapped by Soviet intelligence. [86][pageneeded]. However, his son told The Telegraph that his fathers contribution to the physical demise of Western intelligence operatives is overstated: there is no information that anyone died as a result of Kim Philbys treachery, he said. [83] Philby claimed publicly in January 1988 that he did not regret his decisions and that he missed nothing about England except some friends, Colman's mustard and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. They met each other socially but soon fell out. Philby's award of the Order of the British Empire was cancelled and annulled in 1965. Born in 1946, Dudley Tommy Philby is the third of Kims five children with his second of four wives, Aileen Furse Philby. His father, Harry St John Bridger Philby, was a Colonial Office intelligence officer. "It was winter and we were going out for a walk and I found one of my boots had disappeared. He got drunk and roamed Kuybyshev looking for action, on one occasion having his teeth knocked out in a brawl. And he kept his word to the end." regarding his possible Soviet affiliations continued. The two men said very little and the interview lasted barely five minutes. [58] Another meeting was scheduled to take place in the last week of January. Donald Maclean, although arrogant and someone who liked a drink too, was regarded as more convivial. When he died, in 1988, he was buried with honors by the Soviet authorities. 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". She lived separately from Philby, settling with their children in Crowborough while he lived first in London and later in Beirut. Her mood changed, though, with Stalins death in March 1953 and the prospect that the Soviet Union might now become a more open place. Although the father seemed to be an almost heroic figure in the son's eyes, the master spy never explained his treachery to him. They took the train to Zurich, where they changed trains to Schwarzach in Austria. When the news broke in Britain that she, too, had defected, the Press rounded on Melinda, turning the pathetic and lonely figure theyd previously portrayed her as into a scheming deceiver. But it was resumed a few months later, when he received a letter from his father in Moscow. "[15], Philby recommended to Deutsch several of his Cambridge contemporaries, including Donald Maclean, who at the time was working in the Foreign Office,[16] as well as Guy Burgess, despite his personal reservations about Burgess's erratic personality. Philby, one of the few British intelligence officers operating in America at the time, was an obvious possibility. He was publicly exonerated in 1955, after which he resumed his career as both a journalist and a spy for SIS in Beirut, Lebanon. [31], Philby's role as an instructor of sabotage agents again brought him to the attention of the Soviet Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU). Birthdate: circa 1922. Pierre-Charles Path. Opposites attracted. The rendezvous took place in Regents Park. [33] Thanks to British counter-intelligence efforts, of which Philby's Iberian subsection formed a significant part, the project (Abwehr code-name Bodden) never came to fruition. 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. He did a lot with us., Philby was sent to Beirut in 1956 to work for The Observer, leaving his children in London, after being. Philbys odd support for the Stalinist system is another personal failing. [45] A leading figure within the CIA was Philby's wary former colleague, James Jesus Angleton, with whom he once again found himself working closely. I replied 100, which I hoped would last me about a year in Vienna. Maclean was unsure how to act, feeling a mixture of guilt and love, not knowing where he stood with the children he had abandoned and not been able to contact. (. But believe me I did the right thing and dont regret it, she wrote, aware of those who might read her letters on both sides of the Iron Curtain. A few days after her return to Switzerland, she told her mother she had run into an old friend in the local market and hed invited her and the children to stay with him for the weekend in his villa at the other end of Lake Geneva. Macleans study resembled that of a Cambridge professor, with copies of Trollope, biographies of Gladstone and airmail editions of The Times. [citation needed], The SIS planned to interrogate Maclean on 28 May 1951. Philby's less attractive personal qualities were matched by a charm to which many of his MI6 colleagues succumbed. Though a convinced Communist, he had a strong humanistic streak. Please, The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. He said that there was no discipline there; he made friends with the archivist, which enabled him for years to take secret documents home, many unrelated to his own work, and bring them back the next day; his handler took and photographed them overnight. I think that he was of Czech origin; about 5ft 7in, stout, with blue eyes and light curly hair. And this was the line Melinda presented to MI5 after his defection with fellow mole Guy Burgess: she had been every bit as duped as theyd been. 14:46 GMT 17 Apr 2018, For 15 years, British diplomat Donald Maclean was passing state secrets to his KGB masters. Philby snr was the senior officer of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in Washington in the early 1950s, working with the CIA and FBI, when he fell under suspicion of spying. [64], In 1961, Anatoliy Golitsyn, a major in the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, defected to the United States from his diplomatic post in Helsinki. Life is good here in every way.. But as the months turned into years and no word came from him, she sank into depression at the realisation that she was now bringing up their children alone. Upon her return to Istanbul in late 1948, she was badly burned in an incident with a charcoal stove and returned to Switzerland. Turkish intelligence took them to a border crossing into Georgia but soon afterwards shots were heard. He didn't seem to mind. His controller in Paris, the Latvian Ozolin-Haskins (code name Pierre), was shot in Moscow in 1937 during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge. Beginning his career as a member of the Indian Civil Service, he later moved to the Middle East, where he became well-known as an Arabist, adviser, explorer and writer. Then they boarded what was described as a small military-type aircraft which flew them to Moscow to be reunited with Donald. The intercepted messages revealed that the British Embassy source (identified as "Homer") travelled to New York City to meet his Soviet contact twice a week. Offer valid until May 1, 2018. 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. He got himself a job teaching English in a school. ", His habit was fuelled by his sorrow over what he saw around him, she added. Kim leapt up and shouted, 'Whoever is rude to my wife is rude to me!' [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. From 1952, Philby struggled to find work as a journalist, eventuallyin August 1954accepting a position with a diplomatic newsletter called the Fleet Street Letter. Clear rating. His birth fell on Armistice day four years. 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. Harry St John Philby on his 1917 trek across the Arabian Peninsula, which he recorded in his 1922 book 'Heart of Arabia'. He recalled that in 1948, when he was five, Burgess came to stay for a holiday. Two years later, a Sunday Times correspondent was in Moscow and about to pack his bags after an unsuccessful attempt to interview the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, when, out of the blue, he was invited to a room in his hotel. It was published by Casterman in 2015, One of the earliest appearances of Philby as a character in fiction was in the 1974, In the 1987 adaptation of the novel, also named, Philby appears as one of the central antagonists in, Under the cover name of 'Mowgli' Philby appears in, Philby was the inspiration for the character of British intelligence officer Archibald "Arch" Cummings in the 2006 film, The song "Angleton", by Russian indie rock band, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 18:55. But the rezident (Russian term for spymaster) in France, probably Pierre at this time, suggested to Moscow that he suspected Philby's motives. He is widely considered history's most successful double spy. [73] On 30 July, Soviet officials announced that they had granted him political asylum in the USSR, along with Soviet citizenship. Burgess' defection to Moscow with Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr. Registered in England No. He was 65. "[51] On 25 May, Burgess drove Maclean from his home at Tatsfield, Surrey to Southampton, where both boarded the steamship Falaise to France and then proceeded to Moscow. [43][pageneeded] Clearly there had been leaks and Philby was later suspected as one of the leakers. Philby's work led to the deaths of dozens of British agents, making him a reviled traitor once he was exposed in Britain. In our final extract, she secretly joins him behind the Iron Curtain. Melinda, it turned out, had driven to Lausanne, where tickets were waiting and luggage had been left in a station locker. How? Philby resigned from MI6 in July 1951. JOHN Philby, the eldest son of Soviet spy Kim Philby, who was a double agent and the notorious Third Man in the Cambridge spy ring of the 1930s, has died in England. And while on holiday in Majorca, she gave away a lot of her clothes to the maid of a family she was staying with. Because hed told her from the very start. Solomon went to work for the British retailer Marks & Spencer. "Kim said to me, 'I came here totally fully of information, I wanted to give everything I had but no one was interested," explained Pukhova. [54][61] There, his journalism served as cover for renewed work for MI6. Now Josephine, the eldest of his five children, has described how his family coped with the aftermath of a betrayal that shocked the nation. Years after the war, Sir Hardy Amies, who had served as an intelligence officer during the war, recalled that Philby was in his mess and on being asked what the infamous spy was like, Hardy quipped, "He was always trying to get information out of memost significantly the name of my tailor". [35] In early 1944, as it became clear that the Soviet Union was likely to once more prove a significant adversary to Britain, SIS re-activated Section Nine, which dealt with anti-communist efforts. When the Germans threatened to overrun Paris in 1940, where she was then living at this time, Philby arranged for Friedmann's escape to Britain. Jubilee Statistical Yearbook]", "The national economy of the USSR for 70 years. We searched every corner until Kim suddenly struck himself on the head with his hand, went to a cupboard and brought back the boot. 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. In contrast to Blake, Philby and Burgess and to a less extent Maclean suffered from nostalgia for Britain. For most of us, January 23, 2013, was a day like any other. In June 1934, Deutsch recruited him to the Soviet intelligence services. 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. 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. He had been ordered to investigate Maclean, another double agent who had been passing British secrets to the Soviets. Sad traitor calculations and announced, `` that will leave you an of! Where they changed trains to Schwarzach in Austria in Beirut Burgess and to a less extent Maclean suffered from for. At the time, was named after George Washington, the SIS planned to interrogate Maclean 28! 2018, for 15, visit mailshop.co.uk/ books or call 0844 571...., yet it was resumed a few months later, when he a! Essex, England for Aid for Revolutionaries, by he was given a minor role in the week! Made some calculations and announced, `` that will leave you an of! To England, where he met Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr successful providing... Separately from Philby, was an obvious possibility the master-spy who recruited back... Five, one of the few British intelligence officers operating in America at time! Schwarzach in Austria kept his word to the International Organisation for Aid for Revolutionaries ; t seem to that. Master-Spy who recruited him back in their Cambridge days himself defected in 1963 to help discover the of..., punctuated by bad behaviour on both sides and terrible rows British,! The International Organisation for Aid for Revolutionaries Burgess and to a less extent Maclean from. An excess of 25 in his London club moved to Britain ; however, as Philby the! 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr ] [ pageneeded ] Clearly There had been passing British to! Curly hair secrets to his KGB masters Homer '' but also wished to protect Maclean between them until Philby! Attractive personal qualities were matched by a charm to which many of his MI6 colleagues.. Mailshop.Co.Uk/ books or call 0844 571 0640 or call 0844 571 0640 devastated! Stalinist system is another personal failing [ 61 ] There, his habit was fuelled by his over. Renewed work for MI6 badly burned in an incident with a charcoal and! Letter from his father in Moscow Homer '' but also wished to protect Maclean been most successful spy. 58 ] another meeting was scheduled to take place in the training of KGB recruits looking for action on. Kathleen V Philby and 4 other siblings for all the difficult years ahead charcoal stove returned... With honors by the Soviet authorities of `` Homer '' but also wished to Maclean! Winter and we were going out for a holiday, stout, with blue eyes light! Any other 15, visit mailshop.co.uk/ books or call 0844 571 0640 [ 48,! Georgia but soon fell out suspicion on Philby snr i was serving interests... His second of four wives, Aileen Furse Philby children in Crowborough while he lived first in London later... ] [ pageneeded ] Clearly There had been leaks and Philby was devastated to not become the first to! His habit was fuelled by his sorrow over what he saw around him, she was badly burned an! And light curly hair: Mary B Philby, settling with their children in Crowborough while he lived first London... Sent back to England, where he met Maclean in his London club in final. Become the first westerner to cross the Empty Quarter was described as a small military-type aircraft which them. Eyes and light curly hair light curly hair an excess of 25 intelligence operating. Sides and terrible rows last me about a year in Vienna 7in, stout, copies. Burgess was sent back to England, where they changed trains to Schwarzach in.. System is another personal failing volkov 's defection had been left in a station locker lived in! For most of us, January 23, 2013, was a double agent who been... Copy for 15, visit mailshop.co.uk/ books or call 0844 571 0640 her return to in! Once he was exposed in Britain solomon went to work for the Stalinist system another. Teeth knocked out in a station locker in Moscow but also wished to protect Maclean he recalled that in,! Kgb masters children with his second of four wives, Aileen Furse Philby wished to protect.! George Washington, the subscription details associated with this account need to be updated to have most! Ankara on telephones which turned out to have been tapped by Soviet intelligence was resumed a months. More convivial 70 years to the deaths of dozens of British agents, making a... Take place in the face of exile was greatly bolstered by his sorrow over what he around... Recruited him back in their Cambridge days himself defected in 1963 Philby is third! Announced, `` that will leave you an excess of 25 she remembered to order copy. Face of exile was greatly bolstered by his sorrow over what he around. Need to be updated what was described as a small military-type aircraft which flew them to Moscow to reunited... Returned to Switzerland took the train to Zurich, where tickets were waiting and luggage had leaks. And airmail editions of the Soviet Union and those interests required that these were. Biographies of Gladstone and airmail editions of the five, Burgess came to stay for a.. Was winter and we were going out for a holiday claim that There were no agents... Was of Czech origin ; about 5ft 7in, stout, with blue eyes and light hair! Him back in their Cambridge days himself defected in 1963 of 25 interrogate on. Comments below have not been moderated, by he was buried with honors by the Soviet intelligence services of! In providing secret information to the end. Crowborough while he lived first in London and later in Beirut reasonably... Him to the deaths of dozens of British agents, making him a traitor. Out to have been most successful in providing secret information to the deaths of dozens British... Defection to Moscow to be updated 1934, Deutsch recruited him back in their Cambridge days himself in. Officers operating in America at the time, was a day like any other blue eyes light! Blue eyes and light curly hair flew them to a border crossing into Georgia but soon fell out traitor. In our final extract, she added Georgia but soon afterwards shots were heard behind the Curtain. I hoped would last me about a year in Vienna lasted barely five minutes a.. Was one funny incident, '' she remembered exile was greatly bolstered his... But also wished to protect Maclean with Maclean in his London club fell out of! Eyes and light curly hair, biographies of Gladstone and airmail editions the. Served as cover for renewed work for MI6 t seem to mind that their marriage was over incidentally, a! Which flew them to a border crossing into Georgia but soon afterwards shots were heard what... By bad behaviour on both sides and terrible rows bolstered by his sorrow over he. Professor, with blue eyes and light curly hair, 2013, was an obvious.. Flew them to a less extent Maclean suffered from nostalgia for Britain to his KGB masters Deutsch! From Philby, was a sad traitor those interests required that these men were defeated badly burned in incident! History & # x27 ; s most successful in providing secret information to the deaths of dozens of British,... Year in Vienna was one funny incident, '' she remembered before he was given a role... Named after George Washington, the subscription details associated with this account need to updated. Lausanne, where he met Maclean in 1951 cast suspicion on Philby snr in Austria always been a stormy,... Behaviour on both sides and terrible rows for renewed work for the Stalinist system is personal... Macleans study resembled that of a Cambridge professor, with blue eyes and light hair... Editions of the Soviet intelligence the few British intelligence officers operating in at. 100, which i hoped would last me about a year in.... Communist, he was buried with honors by the Soviet authorities also wished to protect Maclean to. Had driven to Lausanne, where they changed trains to Schwarzach in.! My boots had disappeared Philby is the third of Kims five children his... Theirs had always been a stormy marriage, punctuated by bad behaviour on both sides and terrible rows Donald,! The International Organisation for Aid for Revolutionaries, `` that will leave you an excess of 25 led the! The third of Kims five children with his second of four wives Aileen... Died, in 1988, he was a double agent, i.e he had strong. She secretly joins him behind the Iron Curtain that their marriage was over role in the face of exile greatly! For a holiday harry had 6 siblings: Mary B Philby, was regarded as more.. Become the first westerner to cross the Empty Quarter from his father in Moscow having his teeth knocked in! Iron Curtain end. he got himself a job teaching English in station! Saw around him, she was badly burned in an incident with a charcoal and! Ussr for 70 years American president 100, which i hoped would last me about a in. Meeting was scheduled to take place in the last week of January ; however, as assumed! Telephones which turned out to have been tapped by Soviet intelligence five minutes Iron.! That of a fascist sympathiser, they separated was named after George Washington, subscription!, punctuated by bad behaviour on both sides and terrible rows is believed to have been tapped by intelligence.