FAMOUS SPIES

MATA HARI

One of the most famous spies was Mata Hari. She was born in The Netherlands in 1876 and her real name was Gertrud Zelle. She decided to become an exotic dancer and change her name to Mata Hari.  It is Javanese name and means child of the dawn.

When she first appeared in 1905 where men like ambassadors, politicians and police chiefs fought for her attention. There is evidence of her spying activities and nothing is known for certain. However, it was said that she kept asking for military secrets and she passed it on to the Germans.  This allegation came from the French authorities when they arrested her in January 1917.

Mata Hari denied it and insisted that she was spying for France. The court did not accept it and contempt her to death by firing squad.

Gary Powers US pilot was shot down over Soviet Union’s territory in 1960. It was at the height of the cold war and the whole world held its breath. He stood trial in Russian court for spying. Of course the details will never be revealed but President John F Kennedy got him freed by denying it and stating Gary Powers lost course and straight into Soviet territory. After a lot of diplomatic rope pulling they got him free by exchanging him with a Russian spy. Afterwards the USA admitted that Gary Powers was spying with his U-2 spy plane. Today air crafts and satellites are used to gather information about weapons and troop movements.

Usually the spies do not disguise themselves. They assume different identities or live a normal live but under cover. In the 18^th century one spy made an exception. His name, believe it or not, was Charles Genevieve Louis Auguste Andre Timothee d’Eton de Beaumont. He was known as Chevalier d’Eton and was born in Paris 1728. He was one of the finest swordsmen in France. His other talent was a great female impersonator. These two abilities made King Louis XV decide to send him to the court of the Russian Empress Elizabeth as a spy.  Elizabeth was delighted with ‘Lia de Beaumont’ and made her a maid-in-waiting.  D’Eton gain great confidence in the Empress Elizabeth. Even when he decided to drop his disguise Elizabeth enjoyed the deception and made him an officer in the Imperial Russian Army.

He later fled to London and lived in exile till he died in 1810 at the age of 82.

Kim Philby work for the MI6 and was thought to be the head in the near future. When he was tipped off in 1963 he fled to Moscow. He was a undercover agent and worked for the KGB for 25 years

AUTHOR OF 
'SPYCATCHER' --
 PETER WRIGHT

An ex-officer for the MI5, Peter Wright, wrote a book ‘Spycatcher’ in which he alleged that the one-time head of the service, Sir Roger Hollis, had been a Soviet Agent. The government tried to stop the book being printed and distributed but they failed.

SPY'S SECRET WORLD

KIM PHILBY 
DEFECTED TO RUSSIA 

The nowadays highly developed espionage and the secrecy of its world started as early as 2000 BC.

A written clay tablet was discovered from a soldier called Bannum. He was commanding the desert patrol in Mesopotamia (Nowadays Iraq). It contained information of activities by a village which loyalty was in doubt and the tablet was sent to his lord.

Every great ruler such as Hannibal, Mithridates, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar had their spies. It is known that Hannibal, before crossing the Alps in 218 BC, had informants. They provided him with details of terrain, climate and fertility of the country. It included information of the strength of the tribes and their attitude towards Rome. The Carthaganians won four major victories against the Roman legions because of all these information.

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At first, every ruler had its own intelligence service but as it become more sophisticate and intricate they hired a professional called 'Spymaster'. Elizabeth I's Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham (1530-90) was one of the greatest. Philip II of Spain complained that all his secret plans for conquering England were known before he told his own ministers.

Oliver Cromwell has even a better spymaster than Walsingham. The Secretary of State and Head of Intelligence, John Thurloe, was appointed in 1652. Thurloe run an espionage service covering England and Europe. The Venetian Ambassador wrote that there is no government on earth which is more punctually informed of those of others.

Only in fiction spies disguise themselves. In real life they rarely do. They only assume false identities or live under cover for many years.

One remarkable spy was sent to the court of the Russian Empress Elisabeth by King Louis XV. He was Charles Genevieve Louis Aguste Andre Timothee d'Eton de Beaumont. He was not only a great swordsman but also a brilliant female impersonator and these two qualities which made King Louis XV decide to send him as spy.

The Empress Elizabeth of Russia was so taken in by 'Lia de Beaumont' that she made her a maid-in-waiting and with that 'she' had great influence over the old lady. After a while Beaumont dropped his disguise. Elizabeth was not outraged the least; she made him an officer in the Imperial Russian Army.

Napoleon stated that one good spy in the right place was worth more the 20,000 men on the battlefield. Napoleon' spy Karl Schulmeister managed to be appointed as Head of the Austrian Military Intelligence. He sent information back to him and that enabled Napoleon to defeat Austria at Ulm and Austerlitz. Schulmeister was described as all brain but no heart.

Later on the journalist and Communist Richard Sorge were posted to Tokyo. In 1936. He made friends in the German Embassy and Japan's government. As a result he was able to send a stream of invaluable information to the Soviet Union. It was said that in 1940 alone he sent 30,000 coded messages.

1941, He gave Stalin the exact dated of the German invasion - 22 June. Stalin ignored it and the Red Army was almost wiped out. After that, Stalin, questioned the Japanese intention. Sorge discovered that they will not move west to attack Russia but south. Stalin sent the two million troops which were standing by in Siberia in case the Japan attacks and sent them against the Germans.

At the same moment Sorge was arrested in an early morning raid and sentenced and hanged. Some spies, to avoid this, turn and work for the country they spied on. This was the case of 30 spies sent in 1940 to Britain by the German Military Intelligence (die Abwehr).

When they were arrested some wouldn't co-operate and were executed. Most of them turned double agents. They transmitted a wealth of invaluable information but they were supplied by the British themselves. In 1944 the Germans were to believe that the landing on D-Day was at Pas-de-Calais which was far to the east of the real landing place in Normandy.

The most guarded building was Bletchley Park about 80km north-west of London. The headquarter known as Station X and it was there that they managed to brake the Enigma code. General Montgomery benefited most from this result. The secret of Bletchley Park was kept till 1977.

After the war Britain discovered that they were the target of a highly successful espionage from Russia. Two spies, Guy Burges and Donald Maclean, fled to Moscow after a warning from a mysterious 'third man'. Eventually it was discovered that it was Harold 'kim' Philby, senior officer in the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He also defected and a fourth and fifth men were discovered.

Even now the spy is still very much in business. He concentrates on commercial and industrial secrets instead of political and military information. The FBI stated that out of 173 countries 57 running espionage against the USA. The Japanese are on the top list and the South Korea and China to follow.

The 'Spycatcher' ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright wrote a book in 1985. He stated that most of the top people in Britain were involved and that Sir Roger Hollis, who was head of the service, was a Soviet agent. The government tried to ban the book to be printed but failed.

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