A Spy Named Orphan

by Roland Philipps

  Sansom, Major A. W. I Spied Spies (London, 1965)

  Shirer, William L. The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Enquiry into the Fall of France in 1940 (New York, 1969)

  Sinclair, Andrew The Red and the Blue: Intelligence, Treason and the Universities (London, 1986)

  Skelton, Barbara Tears before Bedtime (London, 1993)

  Skidelsky, Robert John Maynard Keynes: The Economist as Saviour 1920–1937 ­(London, 1992)

  ______ Oswald Mosley (London, 1990)

  Smith, Michael The Spying Game: The Secret History of British Espionage (London, 2004)

  Spender, Stephen Journals 1939–1983 (London, 1985)

  Stansky, Peter and Abrahams, William Julian Bell (Stanford, 2012)

  Straight, Michael After Long Silence (London, 1983)

  Strauss, Lewis L. Men and Decisions (New York, 1962)

  Sudoplatov, Pavel Special Tasks: Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness (New York, 1994)

  Thomas, Gordon Secret Wars: One Hundred Years of British Intelligence Inside MI5 and MI6 (New York, 2009)

  Trevor-Roper, Hugh The Secret World (London, 2014)

  Tusa, Ann and John The Berlin Blockade (London, 1988)

  US Department of Energy The New World: A History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission vol. 1: 1939–1946 (Washington, DC, 2013)

  Vansittart, Lord Lessons of my Life (London, 1943)

  Walter, Natasha A Quiet Life (London, 2016)

  Weinstein, Allen and Vassiliev, Alexander The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America in the Stalin Era (New York, 1999)

  West, Nigel Manhunt: Searching for Soviet Spies in British Intelligence (London, 1989)

  ______ Venona: The Greatest Secret of the Cold War (London, 1999)

  West, Nigel and Tsarev, Oleg Crown Jewels: The British Secrets Exposed by the KGB Archives (London, 1998)

  West, Rebecca The New Meaning of Treason (London, 1964)

  Wevill, Richard Diplomacy, Roger Makins and the Anglo-American Relationship (Ashford, 2014)

  Wheen, Francis Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions (London, 1990)

  White, G. Edward Alger Hiss’s Looking-Glass Wars (New York, 2004)

  Wright, Peter Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer (New York, 1987)

  Ziegler, Philip London at War 1939–1945 (London, 2002)

  Unpublished Papers

  Blunt, Anthony, memoirs (British Library, London)

  Maclean, Alan (Cambridge University Library)

  Maclean, Sir Donald (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

  Maclean, Nancy Jean, memoirs “Past Imperfect” (1997)

  Makins, Roger (Lord Sherfield), memoirs (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

  Reilly, Patrick (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

  Toynbee, Philip, letters and diaries (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

  Articles

  Cecil, Robert “Legends Spies Tell,” Encounter, April 1978

  Fluegel, Dr Edna “The Burgess–Maclean Case,” American Mercury, February, March and April 1957

  Hennessy, Peter and Townsend, Katherine “The Documentary Spoor of Burgess and Maclean,” Intelligence and National Security, April 1987

  Kerr, Sheila “Investigating Soviet Espionage and Subversion: The Case of Donald Maclean,” Intelligence and National Security, Spring 2002

  ______ “Oleg Tsarev’s Synthetic KGB Gems,” International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence vol. 14, 2001

  Thesis

  Kerr, Sheila “An Assessment of a Soviet Agent: Donald Maclean 1940–1951” (PhD dissertation, London School of Economics, 1996)

  Notes

  Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.

  TNA—The National Archives, Kew, London. Citations marked KV refer to Security Service files, FCO to Foreign Office files, PREM to Prime Minister’s Office files, CAB to Cabinet Office files, CSC to Civil Service Commission

  FBI—Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC

  USNA—United States National Archives, Washington, DC

  Prologue

  p. 1 watered the cyclamen—Fisher, Burgess and Maclean p. 120

  p. 2 branches above him—Cecil, A Divided Life p. 113

  p. 2 “in a tunnel”—Connolly, The Missing Diplomats p. 29

  p. 3 “calm and genial”—ibid. p. 35

  p. 4 hired that afternoon—Lownie, Stalin’s Englishman pp. 237–8

  p. 4 a “special dinner”—Hoare, The Missing Macleans p. 5

  p. 4 “be back soon”—ibid. p. 6

  p. 5 “to talk to”—TNA KV 2/4143

  p. 5 “for it on Monday!”—Cecil op. cit. p. 143

  p. 5 and some “disorder”—TNA KV 2/4140

  p. 5 the Prime Minister—Hoare op. cit. p. 10

  Chapter 1: Purity in Thought

  p. 7 “ahead of others”—Gerald Holtom memoir, 1985, Gresham’s School archives

  p. 7 as “exceptionally good”—1935 Foreign Office reference, Gresham’s School archives

  p. 7 “let you down”—Holtom op. cit.

  p. 7 “that walked alone”—Wansbrough-Jones, TNA KV 2/4140

  p. 7 “betray one’s friends”—Alan Maclean obituary, Daily Telegraph 2.10.06

  p. 8 among his papers—papers of Sir Donald Maclean, Bodleian Library, Oxford

  p. 9 “where he was born”—ibid.

  p. 9 “in his hand”—The Times 17.6.32

  p. 9 as well as . . . trade—Philip Williamson, Dictionary of National Biography

  p. 9 “in his bones”—ibid.

  p. 10 “loved by another”—J. M. Barrie, The Times 17.6.32

  p. 10 “sincerity and industry”—The Times 16.6.32

  p. 10 “difficult to live with”—Nancy Maclean, unpublished memoirs, “Past Imperfect”

  p. 10 “of episodic drinkers”—TNA FCO 158/186

  p. 10 “and glittering eyes”—Cecil op. cit. p. 10, quoting from Asquith’s diaries

  p. 11 was “that traitor”—Alan Maclean, No, I Tell a Lie . . . p. 3

  p. 11 nanny and nursery-maid—ibid.

  p. 11 a bicycle race—ibid. p. 7

  p. 11 “soundly and sweet-temperedly”—The Times 16.6.32

  p. 12 “at its best”—The Times 17.6.32

  p. 12 Donald’s strongest memories—Hoare op. cit. p. 42

  p. 12 “middle-aged martinet”—ibid.

  p. 12 “a harsh man”—interview Viscountess Macmillan 18.11.15

  p. 12 the “teetotal fold”—A. Maclean op. cit. p. 9

  p. 12 “doting old parent”—N. Maclean op. cit.

  p. 12 “genuine political animal”—A. Maclean op. cit. p. 2

  p. 13 “sense of rectitude”—Page, Leitch and Knightley, Philby p. 33

  p. 13 “It’s their country”—ibid. pp. 33–4

  p. 13 “a healthy basis”—Auden, The Old School ed. G. Greene p. 9

  p. 15 twenty-one to Oxford—interview Simon Kinder, Gresham’s 28.9.15

  p. 15 three or four miles—correspondence Liz Larby, Gresham’s School, 2015

  p. 15 “impressed the boys . . .”—Howarth, Cambridge between Two Wars p. 142

  p. 16 “and honest work”—J. R. Eccles, Cooperation in School Life, quoted Cecil op. cit. p. 14

  p. 16 “refrain from smoking”—Bruce-Lockhart, op. cit. p. 110

  p. 16 “talk or masturbation”—ibid.

  p. 16 “founded upon trust”—J. R. Eccles, My Life as a Public School Master, quoted ibid.

  p. 17 “trust and honour”—Berthoud to Patrick Dean 18.10.55, TNA FCO 158/8

  p. 17 “for years afterwards”—ibid.

  p. 18 “upon the Government”—Daily Mail 3.5.26

  p. 18 “steel-helmeted clubmen”—Osbert Sitwell, quoted Perkins, A Very British Strike p. 121

  p. 18 loans for Soviet Russia—Newton, The Cambridge Spies p. 61

  p.
18 “new revolutionary era”—Rajani Palme Dutt, Communist International, June 1926, quoted Perkins op. cit. p. 243

  p. 19 “supercilious and reserved”—Page, Leitch and Knightley op. cit. p. 33

  p. 19 “never would like”—quoted Andrews, The Shadow Man p. 15

  p. 19 “the common good”—ibid. p. 10

  p. 20 “influence over people”—Deutsch report, quoted West and Tsarev, The Crown Jewels p. 207

  p. 20 demonstrations and marches—TNA KV 3/442

  p. 20 “a father figure”—J. Bridgen, “Frank McEachran 1900–1975” in K. Bucknell and N. Jenkins, eds, W. H. Auden: The Map of All my Youth, quoted Andrews op. cit. p. 21

  p. 20 “still at Gresham’s”—ibid.

  p. 20 “of human civilisation”—McEachran, The Unity of Europe, quoted Andrews op. cit. p. 21

  p. 21 “liberalism and languages”—Boyle interview with Klugmann 23.8.77, quoted Andrews op. cit. p. 22

  p. 21 “and historical materialism”—ibid. p. 24

  p. 21 “liberty and justice”—The Gresham 28.3.31

  p. 22 with “Number Seven”—The Grasshopper, 1931, Gresham’s School Archives

  p. 22 “clever oddity”—Boyle interview with Klugmann, quoted Boyle op. cit. p. 59

  p. 22 “hopeless at games”—Andrews op. cit. p. 25

  p. 23 school’s “Fascist state”—Auden, memoir, Gresham’s School Archives

  p. 23 “grief and anger”—interview John Lanchester 4.11.15

  p. 23 “in social service”—debate of 11.10.30, The Gresham 18.10.30

  p. 23 fn. “promises from me”—“Last Will and Testament,” from Auden and MacNeice, Letters from Iceland p. 235

  Chapter 2: Dared to Question

  p. 24 “of the theory”—Granta 18.10.33

  p. 25 “Cambridge is annoyed”—Granta 8.11.33

  p. 26 “of the British Empire”—Howarth op. cit. p. 142

  p. 26 buses and soup kitchens—Andrews op. cit. p. 28

  p. 26 “the writer and the dog”—Howarth op. cit. p. 143

  p. 27 “or almost Communists”—New Statesman 9.12.33, quoted Skidelsky, Keynes: The Economist as Saviour p. 515

  p. 27 “literally transformed overnight”—A. Blunt, “From Bloomsbury to Marxism,” quoted Andrew and Gordievsky, KGB p. 166

  p. 27 “countries still civilised”—Bensusan-Butt obituary, Independent 23.10.11

  p. 27 “and political order”—quoted Andrew and Gordievsky op. cit. p. 145

  p. 28 “and of civilisation”—Skidelsky, Oswald Mosley pp. 37–8

  p. 28 “infectious, warm personality”—Penrose and Freeman, Conspiracy of Silence p. 47

  p. 28 “mysteries appear logical”—Costello, Mask of Treachery p. 165

  p. 28 “as never before”—Howarth op. cit. p. 147

  p. 28 to indoctrinate undergraduates—Rose, King George V p. 369

  p. 29 “not very far off”—Klugmann, introduction to J. Clark, ed., Culture and Crisis in Britain in the 30s, quoted Andrews op. cit. p. 36

  p. 29 “wonders of the age”—Clark op. cit. p. 146

  p. 29 peak of three million—“Labour Market Trends,” Government Statistical Service, January 1996

  p. 29 16,000 in 1939—statistics from CPGB website

  p. 31 “head and manner”—Straight, After Long Silence p. 61

  p. 31 “perfidy of their leader”—Cecil op. cit. pp. 20–1

  p. 31 “all the answers”—Leonard Forster, quoted Boyle op. cit. p. 62

  p. 31 “the international bourgeoisie”—Communist International, March 1919

  p. 32 “the universal provider”—quoted Boyle op. cit. p. 69

  p. 32 “and debonair manner”—ibid. p. 22

  p. 32 “other songs vociferously”—TNA KV 3/442

  p. 32 members of the Communist Party—Lownie op. cit. p. 41

  p. 32 “bread and jam”—Penrose and Freeman op. cit. p. 89

  p. 32 “the capitalist system”—TNA KV 3/442

  p. 33 “Helmets rolled”—Cecil op. cit. p. 23

  p. 33 “the propertyless classes”—Granta 20.5.32

  p. 34 “and moral decline”—Page, Leitch and Knightley op. cit. p. 35

  p. 34 “overtly rebellious”—Lownie op. cit. p. 30

  p. 35 “feckless undergraduate”—Connolly op. cit. p. 18

  p. 35 “sordid sexual life”—TNA FCO 158/184

  p. 35 “frustrations and inhibitions”—ibid.

  p. 35 “whale-like body”—Boyle op. cit. p. 107

  p. 36 “few renegade Socialists”—ibid. p. 66

  p. 36 “worry and overwork”—ibid. p. 67

  p. 36 “impenitent Free Trader”—Spectator 17.6.32

  p. 36 “tawdry and meaningless”—Boyle op. cit. p. 67

  p. 36 could move off—N. Maclean op. cit.

  p. 37 “as he saw it”—Boyle interview with Christopher Gillie, quoted Boyle op. cit. pp. 67–8

  p. 37 “the straight course”—papers of Sir Donald Maclean, Bodleian Library, Oxford

  p. 37 “the Communist cause”—Klugmann, quoted Costello and Tsarev, Deadly Illusions p. 184

  p. 38 “as regards his fingernails”—TNA KV 2/4157

  p. 39 “manner, marched back”—Pat Sloan, ed. John Cornford: A Memoir, quoted Penrose and Freeman op. cit. p. 94

  p. 39 “crimes of imperialism”—Lownie op. cit. p. 43

  p. 39 barricade outside Peterhouse—Skidelsky, Keynes p. 496

  p. 40 “the losing side”—Silver Crescent Michaelmas 1933

  p. 40 his “monastic existence”—Hobsbawm, Interesting Times p. 123

  p. 41 “ruling-class culture”—Cambridge Left Winter 1933–4

  p. 41 “revolutions and wars”—Silver Crescent Lent 1934

  p. 42 “of tutorial fees”—Granta 7.3.34

  p. 42 “it is the cause!”—Boyle interview with Christopher Gillie, quoted Boyle op. cit. p. 113

  p. 42 “books and tracts”—ibid. p. 107

  p. 42 “any particular significance”—TNA KV 2/4140

  p. 42 “enjoyed social activities”—TNA KV 2/4141

  p. 43 “revolutionaries of the intelligentsia”—Hoare op. cit. pp. 135–6

  p. 44 “the English language”—Modin, My Five Cambridge Friends p. 95

  p. 44 “something in Communism”—TNA KV 2/4141

  p. 44 “into his confidence”—ibid.

  p. 44 “newish creed, Communism”—ibid.

  p. 44 “the Diplomatic Service”—ibid.

  p. 44 “well-earned holiday”—TNA KV 2/4150

  p. 44 “the married sister”—ibid.

  p. 45 “always doing that”—ibid.

  p. 45 to make love—ibid.

  p. 45 “and possibly satisfaction”—ibid.

  p. 45 “in that direction”—letter in Trinity Hall archive, Cambridge

  p. 46 “his own mind”—TNA KV 2/4141

  p. 46 “all that lately”—Cecil op. cit. p. 37

  Chapter 3: Orphan

  p. 47 “devoted to Communism”—Andrew and Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive p. 76

  p. 47 “tremendous little sexpot”—Cave Brown, Treason in the Blood p. 159

  p. 47 “got used to it”—quoted Page, Leitch and Knightley op. cit. p. 58

  p. 48 “an elite force”—K. Philby, My Silent War p. xxxii

  p. 48 “light curly hair”—Kim Philby, quoted Andrew, MI5 p. 169

  p. 48 Russian and English—Lownie op. cit. p. 52

  p. 48 “exploitation and alienation”—Andrew and Mitrokhin op. cit. p. 73

  p. 48 “the better orgasm”—Andrew op. cit. p. 170

  p. 48–49 “led him to fascism”—Cave Brown op. cit. p. 63

  p. 49 “the Magnificent Five”—Andrew and Mitrokhin op. cit. p. 75

  p. 49 “scions of the bourgeoisie”—ibid. p. 74

  p. 50 “cosmopolitan ways”—Cairncross, The Enigm
a Spy p. 63

  p. 50 “at that moment”—quoted Borovik, The Philby Files pp. 29–30

  p. 50 “Heil Hitler Brigade”—quoted Andrew and Mitrokhin op. cit. p. 87

  p. 51 “righteousness of socialism”—Borovik op. cit. p. 42

  p. 51 in the don’s view—quoted Haslam, Near and Distant Neighbours p. 72

  p. 51 “the Communist party”—F. Maclean, Take Nine Spies p. 237

  p. 51 “dear father was”—ibid.

  p. 51 “for rejecting Maclean”—Borovik op. cit. p. 42

  p. 52 “points of view”—Maclean tutorial file, Trinity Hall archive, Cambridge

  p. 52 cricket and hockey—TNA KV 2/4140

  p. 52 “pecuniary embarrassment”—TNA CSC 11/171

  p. 53 his “modest table”—Borovik op. cit. p. 45

  p. 53 “work there for us”—Philby, memoir in KGB files, quoted Tsarev and Costello op. cit. p. 186

  p. 53 “international Soviet republic”—Communist International, March 1919

  p. 53 “international proletarian revolution”—Cecil op. cit. p.34

  p. 53 “tied to Moscow”—Borovik op. cit. p. 46

  p. 54 “contact with us”—Maclean KGB file 83791, quoted Costello and Tsarev op. cit. p. 187

  p. 54 “praise and reassurance”—Costello and Tsarev op. cit. p. 94

  p. 54 fn. KGB the following year—Andrew op. cit. p. 174

  p. 55 “useful for us”—Deutsch KGB file 32826, quoted Costello and Tsarev op. cit. pp. 193–4

  p. 56 “imposing but distant”—Macintyre, A Spy among Friends p. 25

  p. 56 “intimacy between us”—Cairncross op. cit. p. 26

  p. 56 “instilled in him”—Carter, Anthony Blunt p. 3

  p. 56 fn. “to all polygamists”—quoted Andrew op. cit. p. 174

  p. 57 “last three centuries”—Glasgow Herald 26.3.40

  p. 57 “it was doomed”—Cecil op. cit. p. 39

  p. 57 “public-school gaucherie”—Page, Leitch and Knightley op. cit. p. 90

  p. 57 “sense of humour”—interview Viscountess Macmillan 18.11.15

  p. 58 “just too unformed”—Connolly op. cit. p. 17

  p. 58 of “Liberal stock”—interview Viscountess Macmillan 18.11.15

  p. 58 “very independent”—interview Lord Hutchinson 19.7.16

  p. 58 “make proper marriages”—ibid.

  p. 59 “extraordinarily formidable”—ibid.