Last of the Cold War Spies

by Roland Perry

  A week after being told he was still required to be a banker, Straight was again summoned to Blunt’s rooms and was told that Moscow had rejected his appeal. Blunt kept his friendly but authoritative demeanor. He told Straight he would have to return to the United States. Straight again complained about the directive to become a banker. He could not see himself as a smart-suited businessman attending endless boardroom meetings in New York to decide how money was moved around. He seemed to find the concept of being a banker anathema, as did Rothschild at about Straight’s age when he was employed in the family bank in 1931. Rothschild summed up banking as “consisting essentially of facilitating the movement of money from point A, where it is, to point B, where it is needed.”6

  Rothschild hated his six months at New Court in the City of London. “It was stuffy, anti-intellectual, moribund, boring, and rather painful,” he told anyone else who would listen. The prospect of even a month in such an atmosphere mortified Straight. He told Blunt it ran contrary to everything he had achieved at Cambridge and to which he aspired. Blunt compromised by saying that he would have to go underground in the United States, even if he refused to become a banker. Straight still hoped to put off or stall a move at least until he had completed his studies and activities at Cambridge.

  Blunt agreed to make another plea beyond the alleged mutual acquaintance.7

  Blunt then implied that his appeal would reach Stalin himself.8

  Yuri Modin, who later was personally assigned to send key information supplied by the Cambridge ring direct to Stalin, Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria, and Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov, supports this version of events. “The Moscow Center [of the KGB] would have considered the request,” he confirmed, “and it would have been sent on to Stalin. He took a strong interest in the key agents we were recruiting in England. Straight was viewed as very important. Apart from the long term plans we had for him, his links right into the White House [via Straight’s parents] even at that time assured Stalin’s interest in him.”9

  Blunt, and therefore the KGB and Stalin, were aware that Dorothy was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, and that Leonard was in contact with President Roosevelt. The two couples often corresponded.10

  Blunt remained firm that whatever the outcome of Stalin’s decision about Straight becoming a banker, he would have to stage his “breakdown” right away and cut his ties with the communist movement. The moment to take advantage of the opportunity presented by Cornford’s death was now. If he waited another week, it would be a month since he had heard the sad news from Spain. Blunt again reminded Straight that this was his chance to do great deeds for the cause. Cornford, he reiterated, had shown the way. If he were dedicated to the cause, he should follow that unselfish lead.

  Straight made a firm commitment this time to take the assignment. It was February 11, 1937. His first act in his new role was to write family and friends that night. He informed them about the harrowing aftermath of Cornford’s death when he told the family.

  Straight then deepened his deception of the family by feigning a break with communism. His desire for the cause had, he alleged, been killed off with the death of Cornford.

  Straight and Blunt devised the breakdown plan, which would entail demonstration of Straight’s emotional crisis. He had regarded himself as an actor ever since his roles in Margaret Barr’s dance theater productions at Dartington, and now he had a great challenge. He created quarrels with fellow communists and members of the Socialist Club, and did not turn up for meetings of the Trinity cell. He alienated his supporters in the union by advising them to vote for John Simonds (who had just recently joined the socialist society after starting out as a conservative) the following autumn—the time he himself was set to take over as president. Straight ridiculed the immaturity of union debates. Even photographs of him taken at the time of his fraud are different from those taken in the years before and after the fabricated crisis. They show him looking downcast and surly.11

  Straight continued his act of depression.12 The performances were daily, long-running, and multifaceted. His close communist friends came to K5 and tried to give him solace, but he remained listless, angry, and uncommunicative. Only one of his friends and a recruit to the Apostles, John H. Humphrey, guessed what was happening. He confided to Straight that Blunt had tried to set him a mission as well. Humphrey refused to go underground. He wasn’t as dedicated as Straight. He finished by telling him he knew what was going on.13 Straight responded by saying he didn’t know what he was talking about.

  In those initial staged weeks, he tried to have a real nervous breakdown, which would have taken method acting to new depths, but didn’t succeed. Part of the strategy was to break some of his old friendships with communists and make new friends with people regardless of their political ties. One was John Simonds, by then middle of the road politically and heading hard-left. Another was left-winger Bernard Knox, who had been wounded fighting in Spain. A hint of his big lie came in his organized pursuit of Bin Crompton, which needed confidence and finesse. But as she was at school and not on the Cambridge campus, Straight could be himself while alone with her, without fear of being detected for his duplicity. (He also took time during this period of depression to flirt with 14-year-old Margot Fonteyn after a Royal Ballet performance in Cambridge.)

  On March 18, 1937, Blunt, accompanied by a friend (Michael Eden), visited Dartington and had a long, private chat with Dorothy about Straight’s condition. He reassured her that he was recovering well and would pull through. Dorothy spoke of her son’s emptiness and grief. Blunt sympathized and promised to watch over him.14

  By the end of the Easter term, Straight was talking about missing the finals because of his breakdown. He was so far behind in his work that there didn’t seem much point in attending, he told his parents. He also announced that he wanted to return to the United States to live.

  Dorothy and Leonard surprised him by agreeing with the latter. But they were unhappy with his decision not to take his finals and cited examples of relatives who had squandered opportunities.15 Straight was taken aback by the vehemence of their response, but his parents were expressing normal concerns for a distracted son. If anything, Leonard and Dorothy were being both understanding and encouraging, given that they had been very concerned about his condition. Their response shook Straight, not because they were cold-hearted, but more because he may have thought that they had not been convinced by his histrionics. Yet he was not about to tell them the real reason behind his wish to leave Cambridge early. It left him cornered. He gave in and agreed to return to the university to take his final exams.

  Burgess and Brian Simon (who was Blunt’s lover, according to Straight) joined Blunt at Dartington for a drunken night a few days after he had arrived. Dorothy took Blunt aside and told him about her concern for her son. She wanted Blunt to look after him. Straight took the visitors to a rehearsal of the resident Jooss Ballet, which was too much for Burgess. On previous visits he had kept himself in check. The sight of the male dancers caused him to leer and make suggestive comments. Straight and Blunt were horrified should Dorothy get an inkling of his lascivious side. Burgess imbibed too much whisky and had to be removed from the rehearsal.16

  When the three visitors had departed, Straight spoke more about his plans to live in the United States and to carve out a career in politics. Dorothy responded by saying that if that’s what he wanted, why not start from the top and get some advice? Leonard suggested he would write to President Roosevelt and make an appointment to see him, while Dorothy wrote to his wife, Eleanor.

  When the appointments were made, Straight accompanied Leonard on the trip to New York and Washington in late March 1937. Straight wanted to assess the home he had not seen for more than a decade and attempt to set up a job that would please his new, secret masters in Moscow. If Roosevelt, the most powerful man in the United States, could assist, all the better.

  Leonard showed his humility in a March 31 letter to Dorothy:

  I had
terribly cold feet as the boat reached Quarantine—knew I couldn’t measure up, felt no one would want me, that I was just a four flusher, putting one over, barging in on the White House just as an exercise for my sudden self conceit. . . . 17

  Leonard, in keeping with his unselfish nature, was putting himself out for his stepson as he always had done. He had been content to correspond over a range of subjects with Roosevelt, particularly agricultural matters. He and Dorothy had dined with the Roosevelts at the White House in 1933, but this was the first time he had taken advantage of this most important of contacts.

  Dorothy’s old retainers were waiting at the New York docks for them, and they were hurried through customs and chauffeured to Old Westbury. The staff lined up to greet them. Straight received a special wave from Jimmy Lee, the head gardener’s second son, his old playmate. They were now men, but education, privilege, and money had separated them even further since those early days. Straight was like an English gentleman now to Jimmy, with a cultured accent and nearly a Cambridge degree behind him. And Jimmy? He was content to wear his overalls and work in the garden. But he had plans. He had been inspired by the news film about J. Edgar Hoover’s “G-Men” at the FBI. Jimmy dreamt of one day working for that glamorized institution.

  Leonard and Straight had tea at the White House with the Roosevelts. Leonard raised Straight’s plans to live in the United States and to look for a job. Straight mentioned that he had studied under Keynes and that they were close friends. The president was impressed, for his New Deal programs had been influenced by the economist’s theories. Keynes’s name would open every door in government. Mindful of Leonard’s interests, Eleanor Roosevelt suggested that Straight should have an agricultural post. Straight didn’t respond to this. It was useless to him and his new KGB masters. Straight wondered if it were possible for him to have a job as one of the president’s personal secretaries. Roosevelt, perhaps uncomfortable with this brash proposal, came up with something else—at a distance from the Oval Office. In his forthright, avuncular manner, he looked over his spectacles and told Straight that the National Resources Planning Board (NRPB)—a central planning group—was the place for him.

  Straight found that not just Keynes’s name helped around Washington. The president’s recommendation went even further. The NRPB’s director, Charles Merriam, was eager to employ him. Straight was thankful but wished to avoid departments that would not help his secret work. Blunt had told him to get a job at the State Department or even the White House. Innocuous planning boards had little access to information useful to the Kremlin.

  Straight used the family magazine, The New Republic, to assist in his search. Its Washington correspondent, Jonathan Mitchell, took him on a tour of the New Deal agencies. Straight became imbued with a new sense of power. His family and contacts would give him a running start. The decision to work for the cause in the United States was taking on new dimensions.

  On the trip home, Straight wrote a report for Blunt on his trip, which was sent on to Maly. This covered his meetings with the Roosevelts and all the other contacts, along with an assessment of his employment prospects. Straight was upbeat and always keen to impress his new masters. He thought he had a chance of employment at the treasury or the Federal Reserve Board, where “possibilities were great because of the influence of Roosevelt. . . . Treasury has great significance. Its head is Henry Morgenthau, who knows my parents well.”18

  Straight mentioned his proposal to be Roosevelt’s personal secretary, a position which would have had his new masters salivating, but also told them that the president suggested the NRPB, putting a quaint spin on it: “Roosevelt himself picked out this job for me as the most important among those I could get and where I could be close to him.” Apart from dropping Morgenthau’s name, Straight also let Moscow know that he had access to Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s closest aide, and Henry Wallace, the secretary of agriculture, which meant he “could easily find any job.”

  Maly’s response through Blunt was to show concern that his American connections might think he was still a communist.

  Straight responded that all his American relatives had treated him negatively because they were under the impression that he fought in Spain. The Moscow KGB archive shows that Straight wrote cynically:

  Now I try to dispel this impression by the following means: a. I use brilliantine and keep my nails clean; b. by ardent speeches against the reds in some places; in other places I present myself as a radical.19

  Straight, being sure to impress his foreign bosses, let them know his income was $50,000 annually. It would rise to $75,000 inside the next year.

  Straight also informed Blunt that he had decided to return to Cambridge to take his exams. Blunt arranged with the Trinity bursar for rooms in New Court close to his, so he could keep an eye on his charge, not for Dorothy’s sake, but rather for his own. Blunt wanted Straight to stick to his commitment concerning his U.S. plans. However, he saw the wisdom in letting him get through his finals, especially as the charade of mental illness had worked so well. A recovery from exams in June would not stretch credulity on or off campus.

  When Straight returned, Blunt called him to his rooms for another private discussion, which was designed to keep the pressure on Straight, just in case he was considering reneging on his work for Moscow.

  Blunt told him that Stalin had reviewed his case. Straight had to go ahead with the U.S. underground assignment. He had experienced the success of his deception and those heady times at the White House. He now had no choice but to go on with the plan.

  Dorothy’s concern for her son was still strong, despite his apparent recovery. She also asked Keynes to look after her son; Keynes obliged. He liked Straight’s mind, looks, and politics. They had become good friends, despite their gap in experience and age (Keynes was 53). He invited Straight to his rooms for discussions about the Apostles. Straight continued to pretend he was depressed, using any reference to Spain, which was on the front page daily, or Cornford, as a stimulus for sudden melancholy. He did manage to discuss the last-minute details for the upcoming elections of Long and Astbury to the Apostles, which Keynes endorsed.

  Straight kept the subtle, careful deception over his parents, telling them he was in a mess politically, emotionally, and academically. However, Keynes had taken him under his wing. They were going to the ballet and dining together afterward. Straight began chasing a 16-year-old American girl—Binny Crompton. Keeping the appearance of an honorable courtship, he told the family that he was uncomfortable when she began to respond.20

  Despite his pulling away from Cambridge communist activity in 1937, Straight was still to have residual influence, which he and Tess Mayor regarded as of vital importance for the rest of their lives. Straight had a certain amount of control of the university’s underground activity for a limited time. Tess was put up (knowingly) for membership of the cell in the Cambridge colleges for women: Newnham/Girton. Straight vetoed the proposal.21

  This meant that Tess would be free for recruitment for the KGB via Blunt in 1938. Straight would have known about her recruitment, just as he did about all the agents. It was very much his business.22

  Straight then unwittingly played a more than useful part in facilitating the very effective KGB spying team of Victor Rothschild and Tess Mayor (who married in 1946). First Straight’s (Blunt-directed) dalliance with Barbara Rothschild (without Victor’s connivance) helped cause the breakdown of that unsuccessful alliance with Victor. They divorced at the end of WWII. Tess and Victor became a fully fledged item—both as lovers and as double agents for the KGB—inside MI5 during the war, when she worked as his assistant. Had Tess joined the Cambridge communist movement in 1937, it is doubtful she would ever have been recruited by Soviet intelligence. Seven intelligence agencies (in the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Russia) claimed that this couple, code named Rosa and Jack, were Soviet agents. They included MI5’s Arthur Martin and Peter Wright (who refused to believe it at first, b
ut later concluded it was correct), Soviet defector Anatoli Golitsyn, and the CIA’s James Angleton. Tess’s KGB agency explained the conundrum posed by Yuri Modin in my book The Fifth Man. How could five agents actually be six—“as with the three musketeers, who were four”? The answer is that Victor and Tess from 1939 until Victor’s death in 1990 were considered as a team and therefore as “one.” The fifth man, then, was Victor and Tess.

  Straight claimed Simon and Blunt were lovers in 1937, and that Simon and Tess were lovers in 1939. He also gave nothing away by making the unsurprising admission to MI5 (during its interrogation of him in 1967) that Simon knew all about the KGB roles of Blunt and Burgess, despite telling Blunt’s biographer Miranda Carter otherwise. Straight also gave nothing away by telling MI5 that Simon had happily taken on his job of assistant (KGB) talent spotter. He also gave a broad hint that Tess was under KGB control when acting as secretary to Lord Philip Noel-Baker, a Labor Government Minister, but when challenged by MI5 for a more direct statement, backed off as if he were just putting up a proposition. This was a direct contradiction to the ramifications of him telling MI5 that he vetoed Tess joining the Cambridge underground communist women’s college cell. Straight couldn’t resist attempts at misinformation.23

  Straight staged enough of a recovery from his fake nervous breakdown in May 1937 to lobby left-wing support in the union for Haile Selassie, Ethiopia’s emperor-in-exile, who had been pushed out of power by Mussolini’s fascists. Selassie was invited to the Cambridge Union at the end of the month, causing a split in the union, for it signified communist ascendancy. Selassie’s visit was marked by a student who climbed the tall spire of King’s College and fixed an Ethiopian flag to it. Straight put aside his depression, stood at the oak dispatch box in the customary union officer’s white tie and tails, scanned the rows of undergraduates jammed into the Victorian debating chamber’s leather benches, and then delivered a speech of welcome. It had been translated into impeccable French by Blunt.