David Cornwell posing as a spy for Life magazine |
His
involvement began when he was a member of the British Army during his National
Service. During that period he spent time in Austria. It was shortly after WW
II with large numbers of refugee claimants. He was assigned to question these
refugees to ascertain if they were legitimate refugees. He found the work very
boring.
His work
in that area brings to mind the large numbers of refugee claimants from areas
east of the EU being processed in Europe. While Cornwell may have been bored I
am certain past and present claimants find it an agonizing process.
During
his time in Austria he was asked to join a real intelligence officer in meeting
a spy. The process became a farce when in the restaurant chosen for the meeting
a gun Cornwell had concealed in his pants slid down his leg and on to the
floor. It is a lively anecdote but Sisman raises real doubts about its
authenticity. As with most people, Cornwell’s recollection of past personal
events is often flawed.
After finishing
his stint in the army he went to university in Oxford. I was startled to learn
that as a university student he spied on fellow students and wrote reports on
the leftist (communist) activities of friends.
I was
left uncomfortable with his personal spying at university. Sisman also has discomfort.
You think of students spying on students as an infringement of personal rights.
Yet was Cornwell putting love of country over love of friends?
England
was just coming to appreciate in the early 1950’s how deeply Soviet
Intelligence had penetrated British intelligence through the recruitment of
students in Cambridge during the 1930’s. Whether it was the Cambridge Five or
Six the Russians had been very successful.
As well
we now live in an age where Islamic extremists are seeking out the young. I am
not sure what should be the limits on internal spying in the Western World.
Cornwell
had a flirtation with the Russian Embassy hoping to be recruited so he could
spy on the Russians. It is unknown why the Russians broke off contact with
Cornwell.
With
regard to who the Soviets sought out for spies:
It is worth noting that David possessed at least
some of the characteristics that the KGB recruiter Arnold Deutsch had
identified in Philby, Maclean and others, and had listed as attributes of a
successful spy – an inherent class resentfulness, a predilection for
secretiveness and a yearning to belong.
In the
late 1950’s Cornwell worked for MI5. One of his tasks was to interview potential
senior civil servants and government scientists about Communist connections. He
was reported to be very good in his interviewing.
Later he
was an agent runner meeting agents like he had been in university.
Unhappy
at MI5 Cornwell applied to join MI6:
He told Michael Overton-Fox that MI5 was ‘a
dead-end sort of place’. By contrast MI6 seemed smarter, more larcenous and
more glamourous. The people were funnier, naughtier and raunchier than their
counterparts at MI5.
After being trained to be a “real” spy he was
posted to Bonn, West Germany where he travelled Germany:
His task was to investigate and detect potential
Nazi cells or organizations, and to recruit German sleepers who would join any
such groupings in order to provide information on them.
His work proved
unproductive as there were no significant Nazi groups to be found.
I do
expect there are intelligence agents all across Europe today carrying out the
same task with regard to Islamic radicals.
His work
with MI6 ended after the immense success of The
Spy Who Came In from the Cold.
With such
an extensive background in the intelligence world Cornwell was well prepared
when he entered into the writing of spy fiction.
****
Le Carre, John – (2000) - Single & Single; (2001) - The Constant Gardner (Second best fiction of 2001); (2005) - Absolute Friends (Best fiction in 2005); (2008) - Mission Song; (2009) – A Most Wanted Man
Sisman, Adam - (2016) - John Le Carré
He certainly did have extensive work in espionage, Bill. Like you, I know he'd been involved, but not to what extent. I think you draw an interesting parallel, too, between the Soviets' recruiting of young people and some of today's terror groups doing the same thing. And yet, like you, I am uncomfortable with the thought of young people spying on their friends. This is fascinating background, for which thanks.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. His books are far more exciting than his real life spy experiences.
DeleteThis would be a very interesting part of the biography, Bill. I do hope I read it someday.
ReplyDeleteTracyK: Thanks for the comment. I thought the stories of his spy experience the best part of the book.
DeleteThe links between real-life spying and spy fiction are always intriguing, aren't they? The book sounds very informative.
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the comment. With no real life spy experience in my background I was intrigued by Cornwell's life as a spy.
DeleteBill, I knew Le Carre was David Cornwell but I didn't know he was a real-life spy or anything about his role in British espionage. I seem to have missed that completely. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeletePrashant: Thanks for the comment. My knowledge was vague before reading the biography which also makes clear that he denied and then minimized his intelligence career for a long time.
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