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Ernest Boyce
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Ernest Boyce worked in the Russian mining industry but was recruited by British intelligence and was employed by MI6 during the First World War. In 1918 he was sent to Russia to join up with a small group of agents working under Robert Bruce Lockhart at the British Embassy in Petrograd. The head of MI6, Mansfield Smith-Cumming, wanted Boyce to be a “link man in Moscow, someone who could simultaneously be in contact with both John Scale (based in Stockholm) and the agents working undercover inside the country.” Boyce was described as “a silver-haired lieutenant with considerable experience in military sabotage”. The undercover agents included Francis Cromie, George Alexander Hill, Oswald Rayner, Stephen Alley and Cudbert Thornhill.
Sidney Reilly arrived in Russia in May 1918. As Robin Bruce Lockhart, the author of Reilly: Ace of Spies (1992), points out: “Reilly was eager to reach Moscow as soon as possible and only stayed long enough in Petrograd to make contact with Commander Ernest Boyce, the new head of the British SIS in Russia since the departure of Major Alley. Boyce was mainly concerned with intelligence operations against Germany and Reilly’s was an entirely independent assignment. Reilly made arrangements to use Boyce’s cipher staff in the British Consulate-General in Moscow.”
Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of Cheka, decided to try and infiltrate this intelligence unit. Jan Buikis, a Soviet agent, made contact with Francis Cromie and requested a meeting with Robert Bruce Lockhart. On 14th August, 1918, Buikis and Colonel Eduard Berzin, met Lockhart. Berzin was the commander of a Lettish battalion in the Kremlin guard and told Lockhart that there was serious disaffection among the Lettish troops and asked for money to finance an anti-Bolshevik coup. Sidney Reilly was brought into the conspiracy and Berzin was given 1,200,000 rubles. This money was handed over to the Bolsheviks.
On 17th August, 1918, Moisei Uritsky, the Commissar for Internal Affairs in the Northern Region, was assassinated by Leonid Kannegisser, a young military cadet. Anatoly Lunacharsky commented: “They killed him. They struck us a truly well-aimed blow. They picked out one of the most gifted and powerful of their enemies, one of the most gifted and powerful champions of the working class.” The Soviet press published allegations that Uritsky had been killed because he was unravelling “the threads of an English conspiracy in Petrograd”.
Two weeks later Dora Kaplan attempted to assassinate Lenin. It was claimed that this was part of the British conspiracy to overthrow the Bolshevik government and orders were issued by Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of Cheka, to round up the agents based in British Embassy in Petrograd. On 31st August, 1918, Cromie was killed resisting arrest. According to Robin Bruce Lockhart: “The gallant Cromie had resisted to the last; with a Browning in each hand he had killed a commissar and wounded several Cheka thugs, before falling himself riddled with Red bullets. Kicked and trampled on, his body was thrown out of the second floor window.”
Ernest Boyce and Robert Bruce Lockhart were both arrested but Sidney Reilly had a lucky escape. He arranged to meet Cromie that morning. He arrived at the British Embassy soon after Cromie had been killed: “The Embassy door had been battered off its hinges. The Embassy flag had been torn down. The Embassy had been carried by storm.” Reilly now went into hiding and eventually managed to get back to London. Boyce initially was told he was going to be shot but was surprisingly released on 1st September.
Boyce worked as the Passport Control Officer in Tallinn before being appointed as MI6 station chief in Helsinki. The Bolshevik government decided to trick Sidney Reilly and Boris Savinkov into going back to the Soviet Union. As Christopher Andrew, the author of Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Community (1985) has pointed out: “Since 1922 the GPU had been plotting the downfall of both Reilly and Savinkov by operating a bogus anti-Bolshevik Front, the Monarchist Union of Central Russia (MUCR), better known as the Trust, designed to ensnare the remaining plotters against Bolshevik rule.”
Boyce wrote to Sidney Reilly asking him to meet the leaders of Monarchist Union of Central Russia in Moscow. In March 1925, Reilly replied: “Much as I am concerned about my own personal affairs which, as you know, are in a hellish state. I am, at any moment, if I see the right people and prospects of real action, prepared to chuck everything else and devote myself entirely to the Syndicate’s interests. I was fifty-one yesterday and I want to do something worthwhile, while I can.”
After a number of delays caused mainly by Reilly’s debt-ridden business dealings, he met Ernest Boyce in Paris before crossing the Finnish border on 25th September 1925. At a house outside Moscow two days later he had a meeting with the leaders of MUCR, where he was arrested by the secret police. Reilly was told he would be executed because of his attempts to overthrow the Bolshevik government in 1918.
According to the Soviet account of his interrogation, on 13th October 1925, Reilly wrote to Felix Dzerzhinsky, head of Cheka, saying he was ready to cooperate and give full information on the British and American Intelligence Services. Sidney Reilly’s appeal failed and he was executed on 5th November 1925.
According to Keith Jeffery, the author of MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service (2010), Boyce had sent Reilly into Russia without clearing the scheme with his superiors in London. “Boyce had to take some of the blame for the tragedy. Back in London, as recalled by Harry Carr, his assistant in Helsinki” he was “carpeted by the Chief for the role he had played in this unfortunate affair.”
In 1938 Alexander Orlov, a senior figure in Cheka, fled to France. He later moved to the United States. FBI agent Edward P. Gazur, who interviewed Orlov, claims that Boyce was a double agent and was paid for information about British agents and was responsible for betraying Sidney Reilly. This was published for the first time in Gazur’s book, Alexander Orlov: The FBI’s KGB General (2001). Nigel West has argued that “the reason why this hasn’t come out until now is that Orlov, who was not debriefed by British intelligence, never told anybody but Edward Gazur.”
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Sidney Reilly was still in Petrograd when events turned sour. His plan to overthrow the Bolshevik Government had spun wildly out of control and he knew he would need his wits about him if he was to keep one step ahead of the Cheka.
He first realised that something was seriously awry when Captain Cromie, naval attaché at the British Embassy, failed to turn up to a secret rendezvous on the afternoon of 31 August. “Not like Cromie to be unpunctual,” observed Reilly.
After waiting for another fifteen minutes at the pre-agreed location, he decided to make his way towards the embassy. It was “a dangerous move” – for he risked being searched – “but I had brought it off successfully before.”
He turned into Vlademirovsky Prospect, only to be confronted by a group of men and women running towards him in panic. “They dived into doorways, into side-streets everywhere.”
Reilly was perplexed as to what was happening. A military car sped past, filled with Red Army soldiers. It was heading in the opposite direction to the crowd, racing towards the embassy. Reilly quickened his pace as he reached the end of Vlademirovsky Prospect. As he turned the corner, he immediately realised that something was seriously wrong.
“The Embassy door had been battered off its hinges. The Embassy flag had been torn down. The Embassy had been carried by storm.”
On the pavement outside there were several bloodstained corpses. Reilly glanced at them and noticed that they were not English. They were Russians, Bolsheviks, who he presumed to have been killed while storming the building.
It was to be some hours before Reilly discovered the grim details of what had taken place. Others had been rather closer to the action. Nathalie Bucknell, wife of one of the few remaining staff at the embassy, was in the passport office on the ground floor when she heard the crack of gunshots coming from upstairs. It was exactly 4.50 p.m. She poked her head into the entrance hall, only to hear more intense shooting and “terrible screams”. She was as frightened as she was puzzled; she had not heard any soldiers entering the building.
The embassy porter crept into the hall and peered nervously up the stairwell. He motioned for her to take cover. She did so just in time. As she crouched in the small lobby adjoining the hall, a group of men could be heard careering down the grandiose staircase. At its head was Captain Cromie, wildly firing his revolver. Behind him, and in hot pursuit, were Red Guards. They too were firing their guns.
Nathalie sank to her knees in fear. There was a constant crackle of gunfire as the shoot-out intensified and bullets began to ricochet off the marble walls and columns. She peeked through the keyhole just as one of the bullets hit its target. “Captain Cromie fell backwards on the last step.”
He was seriously wounded and clearly in need of urgent medical attention.
The Red Guards dashed into the street, seemingly confused by the lack of other gunmen. As they did so, a second group of soldiers came clattering down the stairs, equally dazed by the shoot-out. One of them paused for a moment to kick Cromie’s half-conscious body….
Nathalie could hear the sound of yet more soldiers on the first floor of the building; they were bawling to the embassy staff who had hid themselves away in fear of their lives. “Come out of the room, come out of the room, or we will open machine-gun fire on you.”
Nathalie was joined by her friend Miss Blumberg, who had taken refuge in one of the downstairs rooms. Together, the two women gingerly stepped into the hall in order to see what they could do for Captain Cromie. He was smeared with blood. “Bending over him, we saw his eyelids and lips move very faintly.”
As Miss Blumberg attempted to speak to him, a group of Red Guards reappeared and started shouting insults.
Pointing their revolvers at her, they called very rudely: “Come upstairs immediately or we will fire at you.”
The two women did not dare to argue; they were led up to the first floor with revolvers poking into their bodies. Nathalie saw graphic evidence of the shoot-out that had taken place. On the floor, lying in a pool of rapidly congealing blood, was the corpse of a Red Guard.
The two ladies were jostled into the Chancery room where Ernest Boyce, head of Mansfield Cumming’s operations inside Russia, was being held at gunpoint. “At that moment, the Red Commissary entered and told everyone that they must keep quiet with their hands up and that the Consulate was taken by the Red Guards.”
Miss Blumberg bravely asked if she could give the dying Cromie a glass of water. Her request was brusquely denied by the soldiers. The chaplain was treated with equal contempt when he asked to attend to the semi-conscious English captain.
The rest of the British staff were now brought into the Chancery and told that they were being held as prisoners. Most were still reeling from what had taken place. They knew of the assassination of Uritsky and of the attempt on Lenin’s life, but only Ernest Boyce was aware of Reilly’s planned coup and even he did not know that it had been exposed by the Cheka.
“The room was now full of soldiers and sailors who were most brutal in their behaviour,” wrote Nathalie. The porter was led through each room with a revolver pressed to his head. The guards said they would shoot him if he did not unlock every door and cupboard.
The hostages were held for several hours while the embassy was stripped of everything of value, including all its archives and secret documents. The staff were then marched down the stairs, passing the now-dead Captain Cromie, and taken to a nearby building. For the next fifteen hours, they were held prisoner and interrogated, one by one.
Nathalie overheard a soldier saying that five of them, including Boyce, were going to be shot. But the executions were inexplicably annuled before they could be carried out. At 11 a.m. on 1 September, all of the prisoners were informed that they were free to go. Bewildered as to why they were being released, but not daring to ask any questions, they gratefully made their way into the street.
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To trap a spy
It was a warm, humid afternoon, typical of Moscow in August, and children were playing in the street below. Apartment No 66 was on the top floor and the television crew were using the small lift to shuttle their equipment up in relays. Boris Gudz sat patiently in the corner of the study as cameramen and sound technicians set up around him. Although clearly a man of advancing years, there was little in his outward appearance to betray the fact that two weeks previously he had celebrated his 100th birthday. On his blazer lapel, appropriately, hung the Order of Artuzov. Artur Artuzov was the Ogpu mastermind credited with conceiving Operation Trust, the subject of the afternoon’s interview for Russian television.
A counter-intelligence coup of epic proportions, the 1925 Trust operation succeeded in luring back to Russia the man Ogpu – the Soviet military intelligence service – ranked as one of its greatest and most formidable enemies, the British “master spy” Sidney Reilly.
When the equipment was finally ready and the interview began, Gudz explained that he had been born in the Kherson district, the same district as the Russian-born Reilly. After his father was arrested for revolutionary activity, he joined Lenin’s Bolshevik party and eventually took part in the 1917 revolution and the civil war that followed. Artuzov, head of Ogpu’s counter-intelligence section, was a family friend and had offered Gudz a job as liaison officer to his subordinate, Vladimir Styrne. Gudz’s initial role in the Trust deception was as a courier delivering messages and money to Eduard Opperput, one of the front-line agents engaged in apprehending Reilly.
Like many others in the west, Reilly was convinced that the Trust was an anti-Bolshevik group and believed Opperput to be one of its representatives. It was at Opperput’s “safe-house” apartment on September 26 1925 that Reilly wrote a postcard to the MI6 station chief Ernest Boyce. Gudz recalled that after leaving the building and posting the card, Reilly got into a car he thought was taking him to the railway station. Instead, handcuffs were snapped on his wrists and the car sped off to the notorious Lubyanka headquarters of Ogpu.
Reilly’s incarceration in cell 73 was kept a closely guarded secret, even from other Ogpu personnel. According to Gudz, “The cell was more like a room of a good hotel: there was a sofa, an armchair and a table in it.” Concern that Reilly might attempt suicide is evident from a conversation Gudz recalled with the jailer, who told him that day and night observation was being kept on Prisoner 73, “so that he won’t lay hands on himself”.
The interrogation, led by Styrne, began the day after Reilly’s arrest. From the very start, Styrne’s approach was one of respect for someone he considered a worthy adversary. Although it was made clear to Reilly that he was still under sentence of death for his part in the attempted coup against Lenin in 1918, Gudz was keen to emphasise that at no point during interrogation was torture used – “no physical methods were applied to him. I can guarantee that”.
Reilly made several statements to Styrne about his background, but would not be drawn on any of the matters Ogpu most wanted to know about, principally MI6 operational details. Although “physical methods” of torture were not employed, there is strong evidence in the Ogpu’s records to suggest that psychological torture certainly was.
While in cell 73, Reilly kept a diary of sorts, making tiny, handwritten notes on cigarette papers. These he hid in his clothing, his bed and in cracks in the plaster walls. On October 30 1925 he recorded that Styrne had told him that, “unless I agree to co-operate [my] execution will take place immediately”. On his refusal, Styrne called in the executioner. Reilly was handcuffed and taken out to be shot, or so he thought. After “an endless wait” in the courtyard, he was brought back in and told that a stay of execution had been granted for a further 20 hours.
According to Ogpu observation reports, Reilly spent that night alternately crying and praying before a small picture of his wife Pepita. It seemed that the classic mock execution technique had finally shaken his resolve. Despite his agreement to provide, “full evidence and information… relating to the organisation and personnel of the British intelligence service,” subsequent interrogation reports indicate that the details he gave Styrne were either of a low-grade nature (much of which they already knew) or were completely bogus. On being asked, for example, who the new head of MI6 was, he gave a fictitious name – Rear Admiral Gaygout – instead of naming Rear Admiral Sinclair.
According to Gudz, Reilly was regularly taken from the Lubyanka after dark and driven to the Sokolniki district for walks in the woods. As a “secret” prisoner, great care had to be taken to conceal his movements: Reilly was always dressed in an Ogpu uniform for the trips.
By November 4 it was decided that Reilly had no more to tell. Stalin, who Gudz says was kept fully informed throughout, believed that the longer Reilly remained alive the greater the chance that word of his incarceration would leak out. Once this happened, diplomatic scandals and intrigues would surely follow. According to Gudz, Stalin, “anticipated this situation and ordered his execution”. Although the decision to carry out the execution was an irreversible one made at the highest level, it would seem that the Ogpu officers on the ground did, in fact, exercise a degree of discretion in how it was done, deciding to shoot Reilly unawares on his next walk in Sokolniki on the evening of November 5.
“However paradoxical it may sound,” said Gudz, “it was a humanitarian act. Reilly had been taken on those trips many times before, and this, his last trip, was just another in his eyes.” With Reilly in the car that evening were the driver, Ibrahim Abisalov, Grigory Feduleev and Grigory Syroezhkin. Prior to leaving the Lubyanka, it had been agreed that the driver would stop the car at an appointed spot just beyond the pond on the narrow Bogorodsk road. When Reilly was 30 to 40 paces from the car he was shot in the back by Abisalov.
It should be noted with some historical irony that Artuzov, Styrne and indeed most of those involved in Reilly’s apprehension and death would eventually find themselves in front of Ogpu firing squads, as victims of Stalin’s purges. Gudz and his friend Abisalov were more fortunate. As relatively junior officers they were merely sacked from the organisation and quickly melted into civilian life. Gudz, who soon found himself a job as a bus driver, ultimately survived not only the purges and the second world war, but the demise of the Soviet Union whose birth he had witnessed.
· On His Majesty’s Secret Service – Sidney Reilly, Codename ST1 by Andrew Cook is published by Tempus, £14.99
Considered by many the greatest spy in history. His heroic missions, quick thinking and love for the ladies made him the prototype for spies.
Born Sigmund Georgievich Rosenblum in Odessa, Russia in 1874, the son of a rich Jewish landowner. Was educated briefly through grade school but was largely self-taught from thereon. Over the years, became proficient as a linguist, learning to speak at least seven languages fluently.
Left Russia at the age of 19, stowing away on a ship and traveling to Brazil. Worked in Brazil in various occupations, including as a dishwasher, a cook and a bouncer.
Served as part of an expedition through the jungle in Brazil, working as a cook for a group of British explorers. The group was attacked by cannibals and Reilly bravely grabbed a revolver and shot several of the attackers dead, driving off the rest. The grateful explorers invited Reilly to return with them to England. Impressed with his language skills, they steered him in the direction of the intelligence community.
Received training in espionage and was dispatched by the British back to Russia to gather information. Returning successfully, Reilly was given a permanent position with the British Naval Intelligence Department (NID).
Was very popular with the ladies. carrying on several affairs. Had a brief affair with noted author Ethel Voynick. Later began an affair with Margaret Callahan, the young wife of Reverend Hugh Thomas. Reilly had met Reverend THomas advising him on cures for his kidney information. When Thomas was found dead in his room at the Newhaven Harbour Station hotel. Apparently, a person claiming to be a doctor named T.W.Andrew, who bore a strong resemblance to Reilly, certified the death as a result of generic influenza and ordered no inquest be held. Despite the fact that there was no record of a doctor by that name in Great Britain at the time, Thomas’ wife Margaret inherited about £800,000. Reilly subsequently married her on August 22, 1898. At this time, he discarded the name Sigmund Rosenblum and became known as Sidney George Reilly. Was granted British citizenship soon thereafter.
Was sent by NID to Holland during the Boer War where he was to gather information on the armaments shipments being sent to South Africa. Used his innate ability for disguise to assume identities and assumed the role of a Russian arms purchaser. Under this guise, he put himself in a position to inspect the arms development at certain Dutch facilities. Once again, he returned to Britain with valuable information, impressing his superiors. He enjoyed similar success on a number of other assignments and became known within NID as one of the top agent within the agency.
Had a natural flair for his assignments, cool-headed, creative and brave. A master of disguise, he also possessed remarkable acting skills, allowing him to don almost any persona. He also possessed a confidence and bravery that prompted him to accept even the most dangerous and impossible assignments.
Was allocated large blocks of cash to use to bribe officials and informants. Was also afforded a hefty salary, allowing him to enjoy a life of luxury outside of his dangerous work and enjoyed the company of numerous women. It was said of him that he had as many wives as he had forged passports (which were numerous, indeed). He used his charm as a method for obtaining information from the wives of important officials.
While in the service of England, Reilly’s true loyalty was to himself and his bank account. He would go to any extreme to accomplish the most dangerous mission so far as it would enhance his position, thereby prompting his superiors to call on him again. His willingness to risk life and limb was what made him so attractive as an agent to NID. it should also have alerted the agency to his willingness to to do anything for money, a trait that would make him a prime target to be recruited by a rival intelligence service.
While in the service of England, Reilly’s true loyalty was to himself and his bank account. He would go to any extreme to accomplish the most dangerous mission so far as it would enhance his position, thereby prompting his superiors to call on him again. His willingness to risk life and limb was what made him so attractive as an agent to NID. it should also have alerted the agency to his willingness to to do anything for money, a trait that would make him a prime target to be recruited by a rival intelligence service.
Was sent to Port Arthur, Manchuria, a naval base for the Russian Far Eastern fleet. Accompanied by his wife, he was provided with an enormous bank account, the funds from which he purchased an interest in a small timber company as well as a Danish company (for whom he served as a manager). In reality, these were covers for his real business, spying on the Russian naval assets in Port Arthur. Reilly observed and recorded the positions and schedules of Russian warships as well as assessments of their armaments, crews and capabilities. He even drew sketches of the ships and the port. Reilly sent this information back to England, but was believed by some to have also had financial dealings with Russian and Japanese intelligence officers.
Was brought into the Secret intelligence Service (later known as MI6) in 1909 and served under Captain Mansfield Smith-Cumming. While SIS and NID were pleased with Reilly’s capabilities and results, Smith-Cumming said of Reilly “[H}e is a man of indomitable courage, a genius as an agent, but a sinister man who I could never bring myself wholly to trust.”
Was sent to Essen, Germany in 1909 to monitor the vast growth of the German war machine. He devised a cover as a Baltic shipyard worker named Karl Khan secured a job as a welder in a Krupp armaments plant. His plan was the photograph the plant and its production output, but he realized that the drawing office was heavily guarded during the day. Instead he volunteered for the fire brigade which worked during the night shift. A few nights later, he strangled the head of the night security detail and incapacitated another security officer, thereby gaining access to the drawing room. In true Reilly fashion, rather than bothering with photographing the plans, he simply stole them, hopped a train and then a boat and evaded German agents as he escaped back to England.
With England still interested in Germany’s naval and military capabilities, Reilly was sent to Russia where he pose as an armament distributor. Believing that aerial reconnaissance would provide the best opportunity for seeing and assessing the strength of the German fleet, he used his burgeoning bank account to sponsor air races for Russian aviators. In addition to establishing him as a member of the social elite, it also enabled him cover for flying over areas of the Baltic Sea, photographic German vessels. Through his newfound social connections, Reilly was introduced toa man named Massino, the assistant to the Russian Minister of Marine. Reilly seduced Massino’s wife, Nadine, who confided that a German company, Blohm & Voss, were seeking to win the contracts to rebuild the Russian fleet. Reilly bought a small company (Mendrochovich & Lubersky) and pursuaded Massino to convince Blohm & Voss to name his company as their St. Petersburg agents. After Blohm& Vos was awardrd the contracts to rebuild the Russian fleet, they sent copies of all of their designs to Reilly’s firm, the designs having been based on the German fleet. Before he turned the plans over to the Russian Minister of Marine, he made a full set of photographic copies, which he sent back to England.
Was able to reach an agreement with SIS so that any profits he earned through his “cover” businesses were kept by him. Reilly became very wealthy through his SIS funded endeavors.
Enjoying Russia, he stayed, living a life of luxury and social prominence. He purchased a small palace where he entertained Nadine Massino and a bevy of other beautiful women. Eventually he planted stories in Russian newspapers claiming his wife Margaret had died in a train crash. He then paid Massino a large sum of money to divorce Nadine, whom Reilly eventually married in New York City in 1916.
Was engaged by Russia to purchase arms for its war effort. Reilly purchased arms from the United States and from Japan.
Was assigned a new mission at the behest of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. With the Russian government in tatters (after the overthrow of Czar Nicholas) Alexander Kerensky had taken control of the government as the new Prime Minister and was struggling to keep Russian in the fight of World War I. Ultimately, the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian government and under the revolution’s leader Vladimir Lenin, signed a peace treaty with the Germans in 1918. Reilly, in cooperation with Robert Bruce Lockhart, the British general counsel to Russia, attempted to overthrow the new Russian (Bolshevik) government in order to bring Russia back into the war.
Was assigned to a new mission for England, sent to Germany again, this time to assess German army strength and movements. Speaking German fluently, he actually joined the German army and served on the Western front, while sending detailed assessments of German troop plans back to England via carrier pigeons.
Claimed to have impersonated the Chief of Staff to Rupert of Bavaria, thereby gaining access to planning conferences of the German high command, information of great importance that he passed back to London.
Tried to deal directly with Lenin, turning up at the Kremlin gates, demanding to see the Russian leader (infuriating Lockhart in so doing).
Decided the best way to cause the overthrow of the Russian government was to assassinate Lenin. Began to plot his assassination and bribed two of Lenin’s bodyguards, who agreed to help him. He also began consolidating factions of anti-Bolsheviks to take part in the plot and compiled a list of Russian military leaders to take over after the fall of the Bolshevik government.
Before Reilly could act, Lenin was shot by a woman, Fanya “Dora” Kaplan. Lenin survived and after Kaplan was executed, the Bolsheviks began to search for a plot and tracked down the two guards Reilly had bribed. They cooperated and identified Reilly as well as Lockhart. Reilly eventually escaped on a Dutch freighter. Nonetheless, he was tried in absentia and was convicted of conspiracy against the Bolshevik government and against the life of Vladimir Lenin. He was sentenced to death.
Despite his failure, his flight and his death sentence, Reilly was convinced that he could still Lenin and overthrow the Bolshevik government, begging Smith-Cumming to send him back in. The SIS chief declined. Nonplussed, Reilly endeavored to carry out his own mission.
Formed an alliance with anti-Communist Boris Sakinov, the head of the counter-revolutionary Union for the Defense of the Fatherland and Freedom. Sakinov was able to gain a following of 30,000 anti-Bolshevik troops. Unfortunately anit-Bolshevik forces within Russia were soundly defeated before Sakinov could lead his troops into the country. Despite this, Sakinov was elated to find other pro-pro-Monarchist anti-Bolsheviks in Paris who agreed to fund his counter-revolution. The Monarchist Union of Central Russia (also known as the Trust) sent his to Russia to meet with underground Trust sympathizers.
In truth, the Trust a front group, created by the Bolsheviks under the guidance of Feliks Dzerzhinsky (OGPU). Months later, Reily was introduced to “Trust” members and led him also going to Russia to meet with the Trust’s council leaders. Upon crossing the Finnish border, he was arrested on February 27, 1925 and taken to Lubyanka Prison where he was interrogated.
Was notified that the death sentence against him was to be carried out. Reilly, according to Soviet reports, tried to barter with Dzerzhinsky, promising to pass along British and American intelligence secrets in return for his life. It was to no avail.
Was executed by firing squad on November 5, 1925 outside of Moscow and buried in an unmarked grave.
He learnt a great deal about the operational history of his own department, including its role in the greatest intelligence coup of the First World War – the cracking of the German diplomatic code 0070, which gave Fleming the inspiration for Bond’s own code number 007.4 This background knowledge enabled him to draw on a rich seam of characters, experiences and situations that would prove invaluable in creating the fictional world of James Bond.
One of Fleming’s wartime contacts, for example, was Charles Fraser-Smith, a seemingly obscure official at the Ministry of Supply. In reality, Fraser-Smith provided the intelligence services with a range of fascinating and ingenious gadgets such as compasses hidden inside golf balls and shoelaces that concealed saw blades. He was the inspiration for Fleming’s Major Boothroyd, better known as ‘Q’ in the Bond novels and films.
Having a fascination for gadgets, deception and intrigue, Fleming was particularly attracted to the ‘black propaganda’ work undertaken by the Political Warfare Executive, headed by former diplomat and journalist Robert Bruce Lockhart, with whom he also struck up an acquaintance. In 1918 Lockhart had worked with Sidney Reilly in Russia, where they became embroiled in a plot to overthrow Lenin’s fledgling government. Within five years of his disappearance in Soviet Russia in 1925, the press had turned Reilly into a household name, dubbing him a ‘Master Spy’ and crediting him with a string of fantastic espionage exploits.
Fleming had therefore long been aware of Reilly’s mythical reputation and no doubt listened in awe to the recollections of a man who had not only known Reilly personally but was actually with him during the turmoil and aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Lockhart had himself played a key role in creating the Reilly myth in 1931 by helping Reilly’s wife Pepita publish a book purporting to recount her husband’s adventures. As a journalist at the time, Lockhart also had a hand in the deal that led to the serialisation of Reilly’s ‘Master Spy’ adventures in the London Evening Standard.
Although Reilly was a spark or catalyst for Fleming’s ‘Master Spy’ concept, Bond’s personality was a fictional cocktail, culled from a range of characters, including Fleming’s own. There are certainly threads of Reilly’s hard-edged personality to be found in the Bond who inhabits the pages of Fleming’s books. The literary Bond was visibly a much darker, more calculating and altogether more sinister character than his big screen counterpart, who has tended to dilute Fleming’s original concept over the years.
Like Fleming’s fictional creation, Reilly was multi-lingual with a fascination with the Far East, fond of fine living and a compulsive gambler. He also exercised a Bond-like fascination for women, his many love affairs standing comparison with the amorous adventures of 007. Unlike James Bond, though, Sidney Reilly was by no stretch of the imagination a conventionally handsome man. His appeal lay more in the elusive qualities of charm and charisma. He was, however, equally capable of being cold and menacing. In many ways, the closest modern fictional character to resemble Reilly is Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather, a man of controlled coldness and deadpan calculation. Like Corleone, the equally calculating Reilly had a powerful hold over women – or, at least, a particular kind of woman – which he never failed to exploit.
But who was Sidney Reilly and what were the forces that drove him? To lovers, friends and enemies alike, Reilly remained a mystery. In spite of the many books that have been written about him, often themselves making contrary claims, major questions still remain unanswered about his true identity, place of birth and the precise facts surrounding his disappearance and death. During his life Reilly laid an almost impenetrable fog of mystery and deception around his origins as he adopted and shed one identity after another. Those who entered this ruthlessly compartmentalised life knew only what Reilly himself had told them.
Over a century of falsehood and fantasy, both deliberate and intentional, has obscured the real Sidney Reilly. Reilly’s tendency to be something of a Walter Mitty character, telling tall tales of great espionage feats, has only added to the legend and muddied the water still further. To piece together an accurate picture of his extraordinary life it has been necessary to shed all preconceptions and to return to square one to reveal the man behind the ‘Master Spy’.
Extracted from Ace of Spies by Andrew Cook
By Reinier Moquete, Founder and CEO, CyberWarrior.com
Attackers are constantly evolving the tools they use, learning how defenders are protecting data and finding the gaps to get in. Defenders need to plug all the holes, while attackers only need to find one. Couple this with the fact that we are living in transformational times where generative AI models are being primed to ingest vulnerabilities and auto exploit them, and you have an increased urgency of tackling vulnerabilities.
Today’s available cybersecurity workforce isn’t keeping pace with demand. Despite adding nearly 500,000 workers to the industry in 2022 — increasing the total employee number to 4.7 million — the gap is growing faster than the actual headcount.
While it’s true that businesses and governments are trying to protect society, from K-12 schools to critical infrastructure, it’s also clear to industry professionals that they are overwhelmed by the speed of attacker innovation and are not ready for the implications of automation and artificial intelligence technology being weaponized to make cybersecurity advances against defenders who spend most of their time responding to security alerts and putting out fires. With rare exceptions, namely the banking industry, innovation is nowhere to be found in security programs because those that control budgets often don’t understand its value.
Partnering with managed security services providers is often necessary to combat cyber warfare and advanced cybersecurity threats. Even with those partners under contract, there’s still a gap in finding the internal talent organizations need to run the other components of their security program. What is causing this void, and how do companies and government agencies satisfy their growing need for cybersecurity expertise?
- Hire those with the same hunger as attackers, not an army of passive participants.
The shortage of cybersecurity professionals is a pressing concern, requiring a concerted effort to nurture new sources of human capital. Finding and vetting cybersecurity talent is a rigorous process due to the critical nature of the work, leading to longer hiring cycles compared to other fields. Many organizations rely on outdated methods that don’t effectively identify candidates or assess real-world skills, leading to misalignment with business needs.
Historically, hiring managers have looked for candidates with pre-existing knowledge and skills, particularly those with specific problem-solving abilities. Given that most security tools today are AI enabled and can automate a large percentage of tasks out of the box, recruiting managers are facing a shift in hiring strategies and must adopt different ways to define skill requirements and vetting for them. The focus now lies in finding talent with the ability to understand the bigger picture including overall architecture and how the various pieces of the security program come together, that can execute platform integrations, and that can triage risks based on the priorities defined by management.
You don’t need an army of people, you need committed cyber warriors who are hungry to learn new things regardless of how many personal hours on nights and weekends it takes to learn it, and who have the level of determination that attackers have. You need to focus on hiring people who are willing to put in the work to stay one step ahead, people who are constantly researching new threats, innovating, and growing.
- Cultivate entry-level engineers to ensure equity of opportunity and a loyal talent pipeline.
The industry is grappling with burnout and high turnover, exacerbated by regulatory pressures such as the SEC’s requirement for swift breach disclosure. To address this, companies must cultivate entry-level security engineers to ease strain and pave the way for tomorrow’s coveted architects. Unfortunately, and for reasons that are core to the talent gap, entry-level positions often have stringent prerequisites like degrees, years of experience, and high-end certifications, deterring potential candidates.
Underserved communities face additional obstacles in accessing cybersecurity training, including limited awareness, financial barriers, inflexible programs, language constraints, and technology limitations. The lack of inclusion in the field is a significant concern, as it hinders the opportunity for fresh perspectives and out of the box solutions born from diverse thinking.
As the saying goes, “comfort creates weak men and struggle creates strong men.”
People that have gone through adversity often grow up the most tenacious – the best example of that is America’s history as the country of immigrants and of people that risked everything in search of opportunity. This great American experiment is only 250 years old, however we are the undisputed world leaders… why do you think that is? Because people that cross oceans in wood boats and walk through deserts are relentless. These people have few options for economic prosperity and have the perseverance to push through obstacles towards improving the wellbeing of their families.
That grit, that hunger, that commitment to uplifting themselves and their families, that is usually the profile of black hat hackers – yet not necessarily of defenders who have been raised under the blanket of privilege and comfort that a middleclass upbringing affords them. On the other hand, if you give economically disenfranchised people an opportunity, wait until you see what they will do to keep their seat at the table. Tapping into this pool of talent will define not only successful cybersecurity programs yet also successful companies that can compete within the fast-evolving global marketplace we are living in today.
- Leverage global talent solutions
In the current market landscape (“Internet 3.0”) many of the barriers of communication that existed over the last decade or two have been removed. This opens the door for organizations to operate beyond geographic boundaries, embrace a global approach to talent, and ensure financial sustainability via business models of shared value as the cornerstone of their corporate strategy.
For most business transactions, we just want an outcome at the lowest possible cost. Leaders must look at their four buckets of talent (full-time employees, contractors, project-based engagements, and managed services) and create a culturally-aligned workforce strategy that integrates global talent and domestic personnel as a way to optimize costs. One region that is developing into a hotbed for technical talent is Latin America.
From time zone proximity to the U.S. for a better work/life balance for both teams, to cost savings, language proficiency, flexibility, availability of talent, regulatory familiarity, Latin America is an example of an emerging market without large pre-established global delivery centers yet with the necessary infrastructure to become America’s primary talent supplier. Companies that don’t have a business model that integrates global talent supply chains are already at a competitive disadvantage.
To meet the demand for security professionals, collaboration is essential. Revising entry criteria, offering accessible training options, and fostering talent sourcing programs that leverage a diverse talent pool with untapped tenacity. By embracing these strategies, cyber resiliency can thrive, protecting our increasingly digital world and reflecting the strength of global interconnectedness.
Image by javi_indy on Freepik
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