by Andrew Cook
23. Master Spy, Edward Van Der Rhoer, p.47.
24. Account of the trial proceedings of the Supreme Tribunal, Moscow of 29 November 1918, as reported in Izvestia, 1 December 1918.
25. The Hotel Elite was situated at 2 Petrovka Street, ten minutes walk from the Bolshoi Theatre. It was later renamed the Hotel Aurora, after the battleship which fired on the Winter Palace during the Great October Revolution. It is known today as the Budapest Hotel.
26. Memoirs of a British Agent, Robert Bruce Lockhart, pp.314–16, ‘Final Report of Robert Bruce Lockhart to Foreign Secretary Balfour’, dated 7 November 1918 (PRO FO 371/3337/185499).
27. ‘Final Report of Robert Bruce Lockhart’, Ibid.; ‘Report of Work Done in Russia’ by Capt. George Hill (PRO FO 371/3350/79980).
28. Reilly’s tactic of ‘divide and rule’, referred to by Nadine as his ‘system’ (US Bureau of Investigation/ONI, Report from Chief Yeoman Bond to H. Hunnewell and A. Smith, dated 10 September 1918), is discussed in Chapter Seven in the context of his dealings with Blohm & Voss.
29. Memoirs of a British Agent, Robert Bruce Lockhart, p.316.
30. FO 371/3348, No. 190442, dated 5 November 1918.
31. George Hill was initially assigned to Military Intelligence after being discharged on 13 June 1915 as a result of being wounded in France. He undertook assignments in the Balkans, Egypt and Russia for the director of Military Intelligence at the War Office, before being assigned to SIS in 1918. In his 1932 account of this period (Go Spy the Land) he refers to himself as Agent IK8 of the British Secret Service. However, ‘IK’ does not appear to be an SIS prefix and one must therefore assume that it was a code name given to him by Military Intelligence. While operating in Russia on behalf of SIS, Hill had an ST prefix like all other agents in this field of operation (Service File No. 51224, Capt. George A. Hill, Canadian Department of National Defense; Army Service Record of Capt. George A Hill (PRO Pi 15714)).
32. The allegation appeared in Izvestia on 3rd September 1918. George Hill refers to Reilly’s objection to making martyrs of Lenin and Trotsky in his ‘Report of Work Done in Russia’ (PRO FO 371/3350/79980). Likewise, there is no reference to Reilly’s alleged intention to have Lenin and Trotsky shot in either the report by K.A. Peterson (Political Commissar of the Latvian Rifle Division – State Archive of the Russian Federation, Fond 1235, Inventory 93, File 207) or in the 1924 memoirs of Jacob Peters (Deputy Chairman of the Cheka), the two most reliable Soviet sources who were actually involved in these events.
33. Petition to the Red Cross for the Aid of Political Prisoners from Citizen Olga Sarzhevskaya, Butyrka Prison, Moscow, 11 November 1918 (Fond 8419, Inventory 1, File 356, sheets 355–356, State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow).
34. The ‘divorced lady’ is a reference to Olga Starzheskaya, born Stavropol 1893. She was divorced in 1915 (questioning of Olga Starzheskaya by Varlaam Avanesov (Fond 8419, Inventory 1, File 321, sheets 60–62, State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow).
35. Petition to the Red Cross for the Aid of Political Prisoners from Citizen Elizaveta Otten, Butyrka Prison, Moscow, 11 September 1918 (Fond 8419, Inventory 1, File 155, sheets 174-175, State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow).
36. Izvestia, 1 September 1918, and in a hand bill ‘Sensational plot discovered to overthrow Soviet government’ by G. Chicherin (People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs) distributed to Allied troops at Archangel.
TEN – FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
1. ‘Report of Work Done in Russia’ by George Hill (PRO FO 371/3350/79980).
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. Hill gave Reilly his passport, which was in the name of George Bergmann, and Reilly replaced the photograph with his own. Hill had chosen the name for himself as he ‘hated giving up the name of Hill, and finally decided to get as near it as I could in German. That is why I chose Berg, the equivalent for Hill, and tacked on ‘mann’ to make it quite certain I was of German descent’. Go Spy the Land, George Hill, Cassell, 1932, p.217.
5. Account of the trial proceedings of the Supreme Tribunal, Moscow, of 29 November 1918, as reported in Izvestia, 1 December 1918.
6. ‘Report of Work Done in Russia’ by George Hill (PRO FO 371/3350/79980).
7. Go Spy the Land, George Hill, p.245.
8. Ibid.
9. ‘Report of Work Done in Russia’ by George Hill (PRO FO 371/3350/79980).
10. ‘Trust’ File No. 302330, Vol. 37, p.241 (Central Archive of the Federal Security Service, Moscow).
11. Ibid. In this account he refers to the captain as Finnish. In fact Harry Van den Bosch was a Dutchman who lived in Revel and sailed to and from Petrograd. The reference to a Finn was no doubt to protect the identity of Van den Bosch from the OGPU.
12. Letter to Harry Van den Bosch from Sidney Reilly, dated 10 October 1918 as reproduced in Sidney Reilly – The True Story, Michael Kettle, p.49ff.
13. Telegram 3472 ‘Personal and Most Secret’, 30 September 1918 (PRO FO/371/3319).
14. Letter from Lt-Col. C.N. French at the War Office to Ronald Campbell of the Foreign Office, 10 October 1918 (PRO FO 371/3319).
15. Letter from Mrs M Reilly to the Netherlands Legation (British Section), 17 October 1918, PRO FO 383/379, item 12, File 117953.
16. Letter from Margaret Reilly to the War Office, dated 16 November 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
17. Letter from Margaret Reilly to the Air Board, dated 4 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
18. The Last Will and Testament of Margaret Reilly, 15 May 1914, High Court of Justice, London, Principal Probate Registry, Ref. 1292, 2 February 1934.
19. Go Spy the Land, George Hill, p.262.
20. Ibid., p.263.
21. Letter from Sidney Reilly to Robert Bruce Lockhart, 25 November 1918, Lord Milner Papers, Great War, box 365c, Oxford University.
22. Letter from Reginald Hoare to Rex Leeper, 27 November 1918, PRO FO 371/4019.
23. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 10 December 1918; Passport No. 926 issued to S.G. Reilly, 12 December 1918, (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
24. Go Spy the Land, George Hill, p.264.
25. Ibid., p.266.
26. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 14 December 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
27. Dreaded Hour, George Hill (Cassell, 1936), p.63.
28. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 17 December 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
29. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 19 December 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
30. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 23 December 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616)
31. Ibid.
32. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 25 December 1918 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
33. Dreaded Hour, George Hill, pp.61–62.
34. Ibid. p.62.
35. Ibid. p.70.
36. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 13 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
37. Reilly’s Despatch No. 1, Sevastopol, 28 December 1918 (PRO FO 371/3962).
38. Reilly’s Despatch No. 2, Ekaterinodar, 8 January 1919 (PRO FO 371/3962).
39. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 5 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
40. Reilly’s Despatch No. 2.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 8 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
44. Reilly’s Despatch No. 4, Ekaterinodar, 11 January 1919 (PRO FO 371/3962).
45. Reilly’s Despatch No. 5, Ekaterinodar, 17 January 1919 (PRO FO 371/3962).
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.
50. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 14 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
51. Ibid.
52. The announcement that they had been awarded the Military Cross was published in the London Gazette, 12 February 1919; ‘His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve of the undermentioned rewards for distinguished services rendered in connection with military operations in the field:–Awarded the Military Cross, Lieut. George Alexander Hi
ll, 4th Bn; Manch. R.; attd. RAF, 2nd Lt. Sidney George Reilly, RAF. On 5 January Denikin had also awarded Reilly the medal of St Anna.
53. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 22 January 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
54. Ibid., 26 January 1919.
55. Ace of Spies, Robin Bruce Lockhart, p.87. Lockhart refers to the street as Alexander III Boulevard. While indeed named after the former Tsar, city directories and street maps indicate that it was actually called Alexandrovsky Prospect. After Ukraine became a Soviet Republic the street was renamed Prospect Mira. When Ukraine became an independent nation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the street once again became Alexandrovsky Prospect.
56. Novorossiyski address-calendar published by the Office of the Novorossiyski and Bessarabski Governor-General for 1871–74 and the address calendar of the Odessa City Governor’s Office for 1877–80 and 1881–96.
57. Fond P-8085, Inventory 1, File 26, State Archives of Odessa Region.
58. Diary of Sidney Reilly, 4 February 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
59. Memorandum by G.E. Pennington, dated 20 March 1919 (Sidney Reilly’s MI5 File PF 864103). The Brixton Hill address was that of John O’Sullivan, a friend of the Callaghan family.
60. Letter from Margaret Reilly to Capt. Spencer, dated 4 February 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616). Capt. Spencer was a correspondence name. As Sir Paul Dukes recalled ‘I soon discovered that at least half a dozen persons either in the roof-labyrinth [Dukes’ colloquialism for SIS headquarters at 2 Whitehall Place] and associated offices were all called by that same name!’ The Story of ST25, Sir Paul Dukes, p.35.
61. Telegram CX 066117, sent from Odessa 1.20 p.m. 19 February 1919, received in London 1.30 p.m. 22 February 1919 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
62. Reilly’s Despatch No. 13, Odessa, 18 February 1919 (PRP FO 371/3978).
63. Reilly’s Despatch No. 15, Odessa, 21 February 1919 (PRO FO 371/3978).
64. Selby’s comment made on 5 March 1919 is found on the Foreign Office covering note to Reilly’s Despatches Nos 1–12 (PRO FO 371/3962).
65. Dreaded Hour, George Hill, p.95. The ‘Council of Ambassadors’ was composed of Russian Ambassadors accredited to European capitals prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. The committee had been initiated by anti-Bolsheviks in order to represent Russia’s national interests at the Peace Conference.
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid., pp.99–100.
68. Ibid., p.102.
69. Ibid.
70. Reilly and Hill were not the only ones to claim the honour of passing this information to Wickham Steed. Gordon Auchinloss, the son-in-law of American delegation member Col. Edward House, was one of a number to claim responsibility. Iron Maze, Gordon Brook-Shepherd, note 8, p.357.
71. Daily Mail, 26 March 1919, p.1. William Bullitt’s account of his meeting with Lloyd George is to be found in his statement to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Official Report 1919, p.1279).
ELEVEN – FINAL CURTAIN
1. Reilly sailed from Southampton on 15 April aboard the White Star Line’s SS Olympic, arriving in Halifax on 19 April 1919. (US Immigration, M1464 #365 Vol. 479).
2. US border crossing reference NYPL Z1637, M1461 #326.
3. The St Regis was Reilly’s favourite New York Hotel. Vladimir Krymov recalls meeting Reilly in New York in 1917, by which time ‘he was occupying an entire suite’ at the St Regis. Portraits of Interesting People, Vladimir Krymov, p.73.
4. Reilly had known Jaroszynsky in pre-war St Petersburg. According to the memorandum ‘Character Sketch of Karol Jaroszynsky’ by John Picton Bagge, the forty-year-old Russian Pole was the son of a landowner from Kiev who left him ‘a fortune of 3 or 4 million roubles’. He used his wealth to found the University of Lublin and to buy up twenty-two sugar factories and six major banks. Bagge compared him to Cecil Rhodes and paid tribute to ‘his genius for buying up banks and enterprises’ (CHAR 16/28/45, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
5. Telegram 10 May 1919, Sidney Reilly to John Picton Bagge, Foreign Office, CXC 416 (PRO FO 371/4019).
6. SS Baltic ‘inward’ passenger list (PROBT 26/653 & 654).
7. RAF Service Record of 2nd Lt Sidney Reilly (PRO Pi 21220).
8. Intelligence requirements were directed to the Production Section. It was then responsible for ‘producing’ the required intelligence by assigning appropriate personnel.
9. Memorandum dated 3 October 1919 from Maj. D.J.F Morton to Col. S. Menzies (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
10. Memorandum dated 16 October 1919 from Col. S. Menzies to Maj. D.J.F. Morton (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
11. Secrets of Espionage: Tales of the Secret Service, Winfried Ludecke, p.105.
12. Britain’s Master Spy – The Adventures of Sidney Reilly, frontispiece.
13. Velvet and Vinegar, Norman G. Thwaites, p.181.
14. Memorandum from Sidney Reilly to John Picton Bagge, 10 October 1919 (CHAR 16/28/18 & 19, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
15. The Russian Problem (CHAR 16/28/170-189, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
16. Note from Sir Archibald Sinclair to Winston Churchill, 15 December 1919 (CHAR 16/28/150, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
17. Ibid.
18. G3/147 London to Capt. W. Field Robinson, 30 January 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
19. Ibid., attached report.
20. Letter from Sidney Reilly to C, 23 March 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
21. Ibid.
22. Memorandum from Section H to C, 5 March 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
23. Letter from Sidney Reilly to Robert Nathan, 13 March 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
24. Letter from Sidney Reilly to Robert Nathan, 14 March 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
25. Letter from Sir Archibald Sinclair to Winston Churchill, 24 June 1920 (CHAR 16/57/17, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
26. US Immigration, Port of New York, Volume 6489, 13 June 1920.
27. Entry No. 328, Register of Births in the Sub-district of Batheaston in the Registration District of Bath in the County of Somerset, Frances Caryll Houselander, 29 September 1901.
28. Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric, Maisie Ward (Sheed and Ward, 1962), pp.72–73.
29. A Rocking Horse Catholic, Caryll Houselander (Sheed and Ward, 1955), pp.136–37.
30. Ibid.
31. Letter from Dermot Morrah to Frank Sheed, 7 October 1956 (Sheed and Ward Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 12, University of Notre Dame Archives, Indiana, USA).
32. Letter from Caryll Houselander to Wilfred Sheed, 12 October 1950 (Sheed and Ward Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 12, University of Notre Dame Archives, Indiana, USA).
33. Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric, Maisie Ward, p.61.
34. The Diaries of Robert Bruce Lockhart, Kenneth Young (ed.), p.183.
35. Letter from Winston Churchill to Stewart Menzies, 29 October 1920, CHAR 16/49, Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
36. Parmi les maitres rouges by Georgi Solomon (Paris, 1930), p248-250.
37. Memorandum from Naval Intelligence Division to SIS, 3 September 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
38. Memorandum from C to Naval Intelligence Division, 7 September 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616)
39. Memorandum from Naval Intelligence Division to SIS, 10 September 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
40. Ibid., handwritten note by C at foot of memorandum.
41. Memorandum dated 20 October 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
42. Telegram No. 983, dated 29 October 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
43. Memorandum from Section V to Production, 3 November 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
44. Telegram from Section G2 to Sidney Reilly, 8 November 1920 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
45. ‘Trust’ File No. 302330, Vol. 37 (Archive of the Federal Security Service, Moscow).
46. New York Times, 1 May 1921, p.8
.
47. Box 6, Robert Bruce Lockhart Collection (Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California).
48. Letter from H.F. Pougher to Air Board, received by SIS 12 October 1921 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
49. Ibid. Note appended to foot of letter by Sidney Reilly.
50. Letter from Sidney Reilly to SIS, 19 September 1921 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
51. Letter from Sir Eyre Crowe (permanent under-secretary, Foreign Office) to Lord Curzon (Foreign Secretary), 28 December 1921 (Curzon Papers), reproduced in Winston S. Churchill, Vol. IV. 1917–1922, Martin Gilbert, companion volume III, pp.1703–05).
52. Ibid.
53. Letter from Sidney Reilly to SIS, 23 January 1922 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
54. From SIS (Vienna), 1 February 1922 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
55. From G7 (London) to SIS New York, 24 July 1923 (Reilly Papers CX 2616).
TWELVE – A CHANGE OF BAIT
1. Letter from Edward Spears to Robin Bruce Lockhart, 2 January 1967, Robert Bruce Lockhart Collection, Box 6, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California.
2. Diary of Edward Spears, 1 April 1921 (Spears MSS SPRS 2/4 Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
3. Diaries of Robert Bruce Lockhart, Kenneth Young (ed.), p.17.
4. Diary of Edward Spears, 17 July 1921 (Spears MSS SPRS 2/4 Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge).
5. Herbert Guedalla, a pre-war director of the Russo-English Bank. As a director of the Imperial and Foreign Company, along with Edward Spears, he was also involved in Reilly/Spears Czech Radium deal.
6. Lt-Col. Robert Guy (1878–1927), a war-time acquaintance of Spears (see Who Was Who, 1916–1928)
7. Reilly had recently moved from 11 Park Place, St James’s, to Flat D3, the Albany, Piccadilly, an exclusive London address popular with peers, members of the government and upper-class society generally.
8. Reilly always liked to make out that he was a close confidant of Churchill’s. While close to Sir Archibald Sinclair, it is most unlikely that Reilly was ever more than the briefest of acquaintances with Churchill. In Churchill’s entire correspondence for the years 1919–25 there are but two letters written to Reilly, both in response to letters from Reilly. Both address him very formally as Mr Reilly. Anyone who was close or on personal terms with Churchill would have been addressed as ‘My dear Sinclair’ or ‘Dear Spears’, not as ‘Dear Mr’.