Chapter 9: Across the Border
1 Moura, letter to Lockhart, HIA. Written at Narva, undated: probably 15 Jul. 1918. Moura makes no mention of permits for entry to Estonia, but as the wife of an Estonian native, she would have been entitled to a ‘protection certificate’ which would allow her to cross the border. The date of the journey is inferred from Lockhart’s statement (British Agent, p. 307) that by 25 July it was ten days since Moura had ‘left Moscow’ for Yendel; comparison with other evidence (e.g. his diary and historical events mentioned in her letters) indicates that he meant Petrograd rather than Moscow.
2 Swain, Origins of the Russian Civil War, pp. 172–5. In his memoir, Lockhart flatly denies that he supported Savinkov or the Yaroslavl uprising (British Agent, p. 303). In fact, he knew of it, and attempted to help Savinkov with money after the uprising had started (Ullman, Intervention, p. 231).
3 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 304.
4 Moura, letter to Lockhart, HIA. Written at Yendel, dated ‘Saturday’: probably 20 Jul. 1918.
5 Raun, Estonia and the Estonians, pp. 105–7.
6 Moura, letter to Meriel Buchanan, 13 Oct. 1918, LL.
7 Moura, letter to Lockhart, HIA. Written at Yendel, dated ‘Saturday’: probably 20 Jul. 1918.
8 Swain, Origins of the Russian Civil War, pp. 172–6.
9 Kettle, The Road to Intervention, p. 298; Ullman, Intervention, p. 234.
10 Lockhart, entry for 25 Jul. 1918, Diaries vol. 1, p. 39.
11 Lockhart, British Agent, pp. 306–7.
12 Hill, Go Spy the Land, p. 212.
13 In British Agent (p. 307) Lockhart writes that it was ten days since she had left Moscow; the evidence of letters and diary suggests that this was an error, and he meant Petrograd. It is possible that his error was due to the fact that in this part of his memoir, he was glossing over and covering up aspects of Moura’s movements and activities.
14 Moura, letter to Lockhart, LL. Undated: probably 6–7 Jul. 1918.
15 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 307.
16 Liuba Malinina was the niece of the former Moscow mayor, Mikhail Chelnokov, who had been a good friend of Lockhart during his earlier days at the Moscow Consulate.
17 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 307.
18 Moura, letter to Lockhart, 28 Oct. 1918, LL.
19 Lockhart, unpublished diary entry for 29 Jul. 1918.
20 Moura, letter to Lockhart, HIA. Written at Narva, undated: probably 15 Jul. 1918.
21 According to her daughter Tania (Alexander, Estonian Childhood, p. 152), who was deeply sceptical about the claim.
22 In British Agent, which Moura had oversight of, and which she insisted he alter to remove ‘the spying business’ (Moura, letter to Lockhart, 18 Jun. 1932, LL).
23 Official press release cited in The Times, 1 Aug. 1918, p. 6.
24 Lockhart, diary entry for 31 Jul. 1918, Diaries vol. 1, p. 39; Lockhart, British Agent, p. 308.
25 The Times, 13 Aug. 1918, p. 6.
26 The Times, 15 Aug. 1918, p. 5; Kettle, The Road to Intervention, p. 298.
27 Hill, Go Spy the Land, pp. 213–14.
28 Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 26 Jul. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 559. Knowing the people Cromie had available to him, together with the recorded movements of known SIS agents, it is difficult to guess who this ‘trusted agent’ would be if not Moura.
29 Neue Freie Presse, quoted in The Times, 15 Aug. 1918, p. 5.
30 Moura, letter to Lockhart, LL. Undated: probably 5 Jul. 1918. The Soviet report was exaggerated. Having arrived secretly in London he met with Lloyd George, whom he persuaded that the Russians were ready to expel the Germans. The British government tried to keep him quiet, for fear of upsetting the Bolsheviks (Ullman, Intervention, p. 209). On 26 June he made a surprise appearance at the Labour Party Conference; most delegates gave him an ovation, but a vocal minority barracked him severely. There was mystification at how he had managed to come ‘straight from Moscow’ as he claimed (Manchester Guardian, 27 Jun. 1918, p. 5; 28 Jun. 1918, p. 4).
Chapter 10: The Lockhart Plot
1 According to Kettle (The Road to Intervention, pp. 313–14), Helfferich was recalled because of his intemperate anti-Bolshevik suggestions. Lockhart (British Agent, pp. 309–10) was told it was because of his fears about the coming invasion.
2 Moura’s movements during most of August 1918 are unrecorded. However, there are no letters from her, so she was probably with Lockhart. The few glimpses of her in other sources (e.g. Lockhart) indicate her presence in Moscow. It’s not impossible that she journeyed to Kiev again in her role as spy, but there is no evidence for it.
3 Figes, People’s Tragedy, pp. 516–17. The full text of the Declaration can be found online (in Russian) at www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/declarat.htm and (in English) at www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jan/03.htm (retrieved 8 Apr. 2014).
4 Lenin, telegram to Penza Soviet, 9 Aug. 1918, quoted in Werth, ‘A State Against Its People’, p. 73.
5 Smith, Former People, pp. 133–7.
6 Moura, letter to Lockhart, HIA. Undated: probably May 1918. By this time, 10,000 roubles was not a great deal of money. As a rough guide, 1 pood (approx. 16 kg) of flour could change hands for over 350 roubles; a cab ride could cost 100 roubles; Russia was in the grip of hyperinflation, and by early 1919 black bread cost 20 roubles per pound, a suit of second-hand clothing could be 2,000 and a pair of boots 800 roubles (various reports in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, pp. 16, 22, 24).
7 Food was so short and so expensive, Francis Cromie warned in April that any British officials being sent out to Russia should bring six months’ supply of provisions with them (letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 16 Apr. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 552).
8 Moura, letter to Lockhart, LL. Undated: probably 6/7 Jul. 1918.
9 Moura, letter to Lockhart, LL. Undated: probably 8 Jul. 1918. She did hint later that some costly bargaining had been involved, and that she had had to ‘se mettre en quatre’ (bend over backwards) to ‘find some way out of it’ (Moura, letter to Lockhart, 18 Feb. 1919, LL).
10 Martin Latsis, article in the Cheka periodical Red Terror, Nov. 1918, quoted in Leggett, The Cheka, p. 114.
11 Lenin, speech on 7 Nov. 1918, quoted in Leggett, The Cheka, p. 119.
12 Lockhart, unpublished diary entry, 3 Aug. 1918; British Agent, p. 308. The exact address is given in Malkov, Reminiscences of a Kremlin Commandant, ch. 20; and in Latsis, Two Years of Struggle on the Home Front, p. 19.
13 In British Agent (p. 314) Lockhart claims that visit took place at his flat on 15 August. However, other sources indicate that it was at his mission office in Bolshaya Lubyanka and must therefore have occurred prior to 5 August, when all Allied mission premises were closed down (based on an account given by one of the Latvians, cited in Long, ‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, pp. 1230, 1238–9 n. 46).
14 Decades later, when the story began to be pieced together by Soviet and Western historians, Lockhart and Cromie were judged to be grossly naive and gullible to believe that the Latvian regiments could be subverted (e.g. Long, ‘Plot and Counter-Plot in Revolutionary Russia’), but as Swain points out (‘An Interesting and Plausible Proposal’, pp. 91–100), the situation at the time and the shaky morale of the Latvian regiments made it a plausible idea. On the repatriation of the Latvians see Kettle, The Road to Intervention, p. 259.
15 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 315.
16 Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 26 Jul. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 559.
17 Doubt is cast on the misspelt note by Long (‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, pp. 1238–9 n. 46), who points out that Lockhart used the same story in an entirely different context in a report on his mission in Russia (Lockhart to Balfour, 5 Nov. 1918, FO 371/3348/190442). Long suggests that the Latvians may have been vouched for by Reilly, but there is no reason to think that Lockhart would cover that up.
&nb
sp; 18 Wardrop, telegram to Foreign Office, 24 Mar. 1918, cited in Hughes, Inside the Enigma, pp. 135–6.
19 Wardrop, despatches from Moscow, 5–8 Aug. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, pp. 1–2.
20 Lockhart, diary entry for 5 Aug. 1918, Diaries vol. 1, pp. 39–40. Lockhart states that George Hill was among those arrested. This must be a mistake, because the SIS agent’s own memoir (Go Spy the Land, p. 228) indicates that he had gone into hiding by this time; furthermore, he is not listed among those arrested in any contemporary despatches or memoirs (e.g. Wardrop, despatches from Moscow, 5–8 Aug. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, pp. 1–2; Lingner, ‘In Moscow, 1918’; report in The Times, 10 Aug. 1918, p. 6; report from the Times Petrograd correspondent, 14 Aug. 1918, printed in The Times, 25 Sep. 1918, p. 9; report from Reuters’ Moscow correspondent, Manchester Guardian, 27 Aug. 1918, p. 5).
21 Cromie, telegram to Gen. Poole, 9 Aug. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, p. 1.
22 Wardrop, despatch 5 Aug. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, p. 1.
23 Cromie, telegram to Gen. Poole, 9 Aug. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, p. 1.
24 Lingner, ‘In Moscow’.
25 Lockhart, British Agent, pp. 310–11. In justice to Gen. Poole, he had waited for reinforcements, and had hurried his landing because of the anti-Bolshevik uprisings that were taking place. The force landed included one battalion of French soldiers, a detachment of British Royal Marines and about 50 American sailors (Ullman, Intervention, p. 235). Furthermore, Poole was relying primarily on the Czechs (Kettle, The Road to Intervention, p. 306).
26 Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 14 Aug. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 561.
27 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 310.
28 Lockhart (British Agent, pp. 314–15) claims that this was his first meeting with any Latvian officers, and states that the date was 15 August. In fact, the date was 14 August (e.g. see Long, ‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, p. 1231 and other sources) and it was his second meeting with Smidkhen and his first with Berzin.
29 Long, ‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, p. 1232; Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, pp. 489, 491.
30 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 316.
31 Hill describes Reilly’s plan (Go Spy the Land, pp. 236–8), which was to capture the leading Bolsheviks alive and ‘march them through the streets of Moscow bereft of their lower garments in order to kill them by ridicule’. Hill claimed that Lockhart played no part in the plot. However, he is contradicted by his own report (‘Report of Work Done in Russia’, FO 371/3350/79980, quoted in Cook, Ace of Spies, p. 171), in which he described keeping Lockhart abreast of developments via messages in SIS cipher. Also, the Latvian officer known as Smidkhen later stated that Lockhart approved the plan for a Kremlin coup and even alleged that he was insistent that Lenin be killed (multiple Russian sources cited in Long, ‘Plot and Counter-Plot’, pp. 132, 140 n. 38).
32 Lockhart, British Agent, pp. 316–17.
33 The true complexity of the Cheka double-cross took a long time to emerge. The details were gradually released over the course of decades, and it was the release of Cheka documents that revealed their involvement (see Long, ‘Plot and Counter-Plot’ for a history).
34 Rabinowitch, Bolsheviks in Power, pp. 326–8; Leggett, The Cheka, pp. 105–6. Uritsky’s reputation for cruelty was unfair; he had tried fruitlessly to block a number of executions, but as head of the local Cheka it was his name that was given publicly as having ordered them. It later emerged that a friend of Kannegisser had been among those executed.
35 Witness testimony quoted in Mitrokhin, Chekisms, pp. 65–7; Lyandres, ‘1918 Attempt on the Life of Lenin’, pp. 432–3.
36 Mitrokhin, Chekisms, pp. 65–6. Kaplan (whose real surname was Roitman) has been known variously as ‘Fanny’ and ‘Dora’.
37 Krasnaya Gazeta (Red Gazette), 1 Sept. 1918, quoted in Figes, A People’s Tragedy, p. 630.
Chapter 11: The Knock on the Door in the Night
1 The events that day have been described in multiple accounts, often conflicting, and further distorted by the many inaccurate press reports, British and Russian. Francis Cromie’s biographer has collated the various witness statements and extracted a semi-coherent account from them (Bainton, Honoured by Strangers, pp. 250–57; see also Britnieva, One Woman’s Story, pp. 76–81). The narrative given here is primarily based on that account, with the main contradictions resolved.
2 Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 14 Aug. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 561. Cromie’s biographer is puzzled by his failure to be armed. It is possible that SIS colleagues such as Reilly advised him not to carry a gun. George Hill wrote that ‘nine times out of ten a revolver is of no earthly use and will seldom get a man out of a tight corner’, and was more likely to get its carrier into trouble (Hill, Go Spy the Land, p. 214). In classic Victorian adventurer style, Hill favoured a sword-stick for self-defence.
3 Report by W. J. Oudendijk (Netherlands Minister in Petrograd), 6 Sept. 1918, in Foreign Office, White Paper on Russia, pp. 3–4.
4 Cromie’s death was reported in the British press as murder. There were claims that Cromie’s body was mutilated and burial was refused, and that he was shot in the back while at his desk, or killed while defending women and children from attack. It became so established in the public mind that it caused a heated argument in a House of Commons committee between Teddy Lessing (who had been present at the scene and denied that Cromie was murdered) and Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson and various other members (Hansard, Foreign Office HC Deb, 7 Jul. 1924, vol. 175, cc1847–9).
5 Malkov recounts this conversation in his memoir, Reminiscences, pp. 303–4.
6 Malkov, Reminiscences, pp. 307–9.
7 Malkov (Reminiscences, p. 310) definitely states that ‘Poproboval potyanut dver na sebya . . .’, which Berberova (Moura, p. 65) also translates as ‘I tried to pull the door toward me’. Possibly it was an outer protective door.
8 The British always called Malkov ‘Mankoff’ (Malkov, Reminiscences, p. 311; Lockhart, British Agent, p. 317). It seems to have irritated him.
9 Malkov, Reminiscences, pp. 311–3; Lockhart, British Agent, p. 317. Malkov had read British Agent when he wrote his own memoir, and is scathing about Lockhart’s version, claiming that he did not draw his pistol during the arrest. Regarding Lockhart’s claim that there were ten armed men in the room, Malkov suggests that fear often gives people double vision, and that in Lockhart’s case it was tripled. However, it seems unlikely, given the obstructiveness of Moura and Hicks, and the fact that he was dealing with a case of attempted assassination, plus the fact that two Petrograd Chekists had been killed that day while attempting to arrest British subjects, that Malkov would not draw his weapon as a precaution. He seems to have thoroughly disliked Lockhart, and in this episode seems intent on portraying him in as abject a manner as possible. It’s possible that Malkov’s dislike stemmed from an incident at the Smolny Institute in February when he tried to detain Lockhart and prevent him seeing Trotsky; this earned him a sharp rebuke from Trotsky and a patronising put-down from Lockhart (Malkov, Reminiscences, pp. 306–9). Malkov seems to have been conscious of his peasant origins, and although he idolised Lenin he was not overly fond of Trotsky.
10 Lockhart, British Agent, pp. 318–19.
11 Lockhart, British Agent, pp. 317–20.
12 Malkov, Reminiscences, pp. 315–20. The document is reproduced in a report by Yakov Peters (‘The Lockhart Case’, p. 495). According to Peters, Maria Fride was arrested at a nearby flat in Sheremetievskiy pereulok (now Romanov pereulok) that was being used by Sidney Reilly. This has been cited in several biographies of Reilly. However, aside from being contradicted by Malkov, who was present at the interrogation and gives a vividly detailed account, Peters’ report contains several other discrepancies which cast doubt on the reliability of several statements relating to Lockhart. See Cha
pter 12.
13 Malkov, Reminiscences, pp. 317–18.
14 Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, pp. 502–3. Aleksandr Fride was later sentenced to death and shot (Rabinowitch, Bolsheviks in Power, p. 338).
15 Mitrokhin, Chekisms, pp. 65–6.
16 Mitrokhin, Chekisms, p. 70.
17 Lockhart, British Agent, p. 320.
18 Lockhart, diary entry for 1 Sept. 1918, in Diaries vol. 1, p. 40. In British Agent (p. 320) he says he was released at 9 a.m., whereas according to Malkov it was a few hours later. In his diary, Lockhart confusingly states that he was in custody from 9 a.m. (Diaries vol. 1, p. 40).
19 Malkov, Reminiscences, p. 319; Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, p. 514. Lockhart himself is the source for Chicherin’s intervention (British Agent, p. 320).
Chapter 12: Sacrificial Offering
A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy Page 44