British double agent Kim Philby’s deceit was finally exposed by the daughter of a Jewish-Russian oil magnate offended by his anti-Israeli reports while operating undercover as a journalist in Beirut, newly released archives reveal.
Philby, who died in May 1988 after having worked for MI6 for decades, was one of the key ringleaders of a group of spies, now known as the Cambridge Five, sending secrets to Russia.
Recruited from the University of Cambridge by Soviet intelligence and security agency the KGB in the 1930s, the men worked at the top tiers of the establishment, sending British and US secrets to Russia during the Second World War and the Cold War. As their duplicity was suspected and gradually uncovered, the scandal gripped Britain from the 1950s.
Although suspicion had fallen on Philby for years, authorities could never prove he was actually working for Russia. It was while working on operations in the Middle East that he was eventually brought to account. It took the evidence of socialite Flora Solomon to bring down the high-ranking MI6 officer – who was once tipped as a future chief of the service.
Ms Solomon, whose son later founded Amnesty International, told MI5 in 1962 that Philby, her former friend, had tried to recruit her as a spy in the 1930s.
The heiress from Mayfair, who went on to become a senior executive at high-street chain Marks & Spencer, initially made the revelations to former MI5 officer Victor Rothschild at a cocktail party in Tel Aviv. He then facilitated an official meeting with MI5 agent Arthur Martin and it was her damning evidence that gave MI5 the proof it needed to confront Philby.
Despite keeping the secret for years, her reason for finally exposing him was due to her growing infuriation at his “violently” anti-Israel articles for British newspaper The Observer.
“To anyone with eyes to see, they [the articles] were permeated with anti-Israel bias. They accepted the Soviet view of Middle East politics,” she said, and accused him of publishing Soviet propaganda in a bid to weaken Israel.
Secret documents
On Tuesday, the National Archives in Kew, west London released a cache of top-secret files, including the full confession given by Philby in Lebanon to his oldest friend and former MI6 colleague Nicholas Elliott. Only weeks later he fled Lebanon on a steamer to defect to Russia.
In the files from 1962, Mr Martin describes Ms Solomon as an “intelligent, flamboyant” woman and revealed she claimed Philby had tried to recruit her in 1937 by telling her he was “doing important work for peace” and that she “should be doing it, too”.
“If she is to be believed, Ms Solomon’s motive in coming forward at this late date derives partly from the pessimistic view she takes of the world situation and partly from her belief that Philby is still working for the Russians and, on their instructions, writes anti-Israel propaganda,” he wrote in the 1962 file.
“She cited recent articles he has written about President Nasser of Egypt. She appealed to me to do all I can to put a stop to these articles.”
Sir Dick White, who was then director general of MI5, took the decision to send Philby’s former friend Mr Elliott, who had previously worked with him in Beirut, to confront him.
Spy ring
On January 9, 1962, Philby told him he had been waiting for this moment for almost 30 years.
Philby’s confession came a decade after MI5 had fruitlessly tried to link him to Cambridge spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, both of whom fled to Russia in 1951.
After their defection, the security service interrogated Philby, who was then MI6’s intelligence chief in Washington, but despite being convinced of his guilt were unable to gather enough evidence against him.
Middle East connection
He was quietly forced to resign but later rejoined MI6. He moved to Beirut in 1956 to work for MI6 under the guise of Middle East correspondent for The Observer and his work led to him travelling to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen.
The son of John Philby, a Saudi adviser and a British explorer who was the first European to cross the Empty Quarter from east to west, the spy briefly moved into his father's home in Ajaltoun, just outside Beirut, before moving to the capital.
Previously, Philby had worked as head of British intelligence for Turkey in Istanbul and in 1949 became MI6’s senior representative in Washington.
In his confession, Philby told Mr Elliott: “I certainly would not have spoken to anyone else and when you yourself told me that you believed the evidence against me, that really did it. I have had this particular moment in mind for 28 years almost, that the conclusive proof would come out."
He said the story started in 1934 and ended 12 years later. He admitted he had warned Burgess and Maclean that the intelligent service’s net was closing in on them, telling Maclean “he was in great danger” and needed to flee. He confessed it was he who had originally recruited both men to spy for Russia.
In the course of the interview, he admitted he had betrayed Konstantin Volkov – a KGB officer who tried to defect to the West bringing with him details of traitors operating in British intelligence and the Foreign Office, which would have inevitably led to Philby’s exposure.
Instead, as a result of Philby’s intervention, he was abducted by the Russians in Istanbul, drugged, taken back to Moscow and executed. It is believed Philby's work led to the deaths of dozens of British agents.
Spy work
His confession details how he was recruited and the methods used from always taking three taxis to avoid being followed, and his recruiters buying him a suit and hat to make him appear less scruffy, to writing in secret ink and sending letters where the fifth word in each sentence combined to form a hidden message.
He described his handlers and talks of one known as Big Bill who was “obviously ruthless” but a “very, very, nice fellow indeed ... an extraordinary man but obviously prepared to torture and slaughter anyone”.
Operations included him being sent to Spain, infiltrating the London School of Oriental Studies and sending intelligence to the Russians from Washington.
He falsely claimed he had stopped spying for Russia in 1946 and said he considered “spilling the beans” about being a double agent but thought to himself “why should I?”.
After being confronted he said it was a “tremendous” relief and told Mr Elliott: “I actually thought I would be dead before it happened. The interesting part of the story is that I was never actually a member of the Communist Party,” he said. “There were always certain things I could not accept.”
Do it again
The released files show Mr Elliott’s conclusion noting of Philby: “He said if he had his whole life to lead again he would probably behave in the same way.”
A few weeks after their meeting, Philby disappeared and was reported missing by his wife. The archives reveal she later received two letters from Cairo from him but the files show the security services believe he fled to Russia.
“It is known a Soviet ship left Beirut for Odesa [in present-day Ukraine] on January 23 [1962] and it is possible Philby boarded this clandestinely and is now in the USSR,” an agent wrote.
Philby lived in central Moscow until his death, aged 76, a quarter of a century after defecting to the Soviet Union. He was employed as an occasional consultant to the KGB helping to prepare spies for missions to the West.
He was stripped of his OBE by Britain and remains one of its most notorious traitors. In Russia, however, he has been honoured with a square in Moscow named after him and a plaque in the headquarters of its foreign intelligence service.
The National Archives’ newly released files will for the first time form a public exhibition on the security service entitled 'MI5: Official Secrets' and will open this spring.
