World War II: MI5 British Intelligence History of the Operations of M.S. 1939 - 1945

World War II: MI5 British Intelligence History of the Operations of M.S. 1939 - 1945

A 62-page report, with an inception of April 1945, on the work of the British MS (recruitment and operation of agents) during World War II.

The account reports on the wartime history of the MS section, its personnel, philosophy, and some of its operations, written by British spymaster Maxwell Knight.  

Knight has been considered the model for the James Bond character "M." 

The report reviews MS' role in the recruitment and operation of secret agents who were acquired to infiltrate groups and individuals working against British interests. 

Includes coverage of undercover agents working against Percy Glading, Anna Wolkoff & Tyler Kent, Molly Hiscox & Norah Briscoe, and Werner Osterwald.  

Percy Glading

Percy Eded Glading (1893 – 1970) was a trade union activist, author, and the English Communist co-founder of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He was investigated, convicted, and imprisoned for spying for the Soviet Union against Britain.

Olga Gray, a MI5 agent working under Maxwell Knight, became a secretary to Harry Pollitt, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Gray was able to discover the existence of a Soviet spy ring working in the Woolwich Arsenal, headed by Percy Glading.

 
Anna Wolkoff & Tyler Kent

Anna Nikolayeva Wolkova (1902 – 1973) aka Anna de Wolkoff, was the secretary of The Right Club, an antisemitic and fascist group which was opposed to England's participation in World War II. When Britain declared war against Germany on September 3, 1939, the Right Club ceased operation.  The Right Club had already been infiltrated by the MI5.

Wolkoff in February 1940 met an American, Tyler Kent, who worked as a cipher clerk at the United States embassy. Kent provided Wolkoff with documents he stole from the embassy, chiefly cables between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. Wolkoff and Kent were arrested on May 20, 1940, for violations of the Official Secrets Act.

On November 7, 1940, Kent was convicted and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and Wolkoff was sentenced to 10 years. They avoided execution because their crimes were committed before passage of the Treachery Act 1940.

 
Molly Hiscox & Norah Briscoe

Molly Hiscox professed to be pro-German and was a member of the British Union of Fascists. Her friend, Norah Briscoe, had lived in Germany, and returned to England at the outbreak of the war.  In 1941, she worked in the Ministry of Supply.

In March 1941, Hiscox and Briscoe were arrested and charged with passing confidential documents to the German Government. In March 1941, they pleaded guilty, and were each sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

Werner Osterwald

Werner Osterwald was a German engineer who came to England in 1938. He was arrested and deported to Germany in March 1939, for trying to collect military and naval information for the Gestapo.