A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy (68 page)

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Authors: Deborah McDonald,Jeremy Dronfield

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Historical

BOOK: A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy
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26
   
Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 14 Aug. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 561.
27
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, p. 310.
28
   
Lockhart (
British Agent
, pp. 314–15) claims that this was his first meeting with any Latvian officers, and states that the date was 15 August. In fact, the date was 14 August (e.g. see Long, ‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, p. 1231 and other sources) and it was his second meeting with Smidkhen and his first with Berzin.
29
   
Long, ‘Searching for Sidney Reilly’, p. 1232; Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, pp. 489, 491.
30
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, p. 316.
31
   
Hill describes Reilly’s plan (
Go Spy the Land
, pp. 236–8), which was to capture the leading Bolsheviks alive and ‘march them through the streets of Moscow bereft of their lower garments in order to kill them by ridicule’. Hill claimed that Lockhart played no part in the plot. However, he is contradicted by his own report (‘Report of Work Done in Russia’, FO 371/3350/79980, quoted in Cook,
Ace of Spies
, p. 171), in which he described keeping Lockhart abreast of developments via messages in SIS cipher. Also, the Latvian officer known as Smidkhen later stated that Lockhart approved the plan for a Kremlin coup and even alleged that he was insistent that Lenin be killed (multiple Russian sources cited in Long, ‘Plot and Counter-Plot’, pp. 132, 140 n. 38).
32
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, pp. 316–17.
33
   
The true complexity of the Cheka double-cross took a long time to emerge. The details were gradually released over the course of decades, and it was the release of Cheka documents that revealed their involvement (see Long, ‘Plot and Counter-Plot’ for a history).
34
   
Rabinowitch,
Bolsheviks in Power
, pp. 326–8; Leggett,
The Cheka
, pp. 105–6. Uritsky’s reputation for cruelty was unfair; he had tried fruitlessly to block a number of executions, but as head of the local Cheka it was his name that was given publicly as having ordered them. It later emerged that a friend of Kannegisser had been among those executed.
35
   
Witness testimony quoted in Mitrokhin,
Chekisms
, pp. 65–7; Lyandres, ‘1918 Attempt on the Life of Lenin’, pp. 432–3.
36
   
Mitrokhin,
Chekisms
, pp. 65–6. Kaplan (whose real surname was Roitman) has been known variously as ‘Fanny’ and ‘Dora’.
37
   
Krasnaya Gazeta
(
Red Gazette
), 1 Sept. 1918, quoted in Figes,
A People’s Tragedy
, p. 630.
 
 

Chapter 11: The Knock on the Door in the Night

  
1
   
The events that day have been described in multiple accounts, often conflicting, and further distorted by the many inaccurate press reports, British and Russian. Francis Cromie’s biographer has collated the various witness statements and extracted a semi-coherent account from them (Bainton,
Honoured by Strangers
, pp. 250–57; see also Britnieva,
One Woman’s Story
, pp. 76–81). The narrative given here is primarily based on that account, with the main contradictions resolved.
  
2
   
Cromie, letter to Adm. W. R. Hall, 14 Aug. 1918, in Jones, ‘Documents on British Relations’ IV, p. 561. Cromie’s biographer is puzzled by his failure to be armed. It is possible that SIS colleagues such as Reilly advised him not to carry a gun. George Hill wrote that ‘nine times out of ten a revolver is of no earthly use and will seldom get a man out of a tight corner’, and was more likely to get its carrier into trouble (Hill,
Go Spy the Land
, p. 214). In classic Victorian adventurer style, Hill favoured a sword-stick for self-defence.
  
3
   
Report by W. J. Oudendijk (Netherlands Minister in Petrograd), 6 Sept. 1918, in Foreign Office,
White Paper on Russia
, pp. 3–4.
  
4
   
Cromie’s death was reported in the British press as murder. There were claims that Cromie’s body was mutilated and burial was refused, and that he was shot in the back while at his desk, or killed while defending women and children from attack. It became so established in the public mind that it caused a heated argument in a House of Commons committee between Teddy Lessing (who had been present at the scene and denied that Cromie was murdered) and Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson and various other members (
Hansard
, Foreign Office HC Deb, 7 Jul. 1924, vol. 175, cc1847–9).
  
5
   
Malkov recounts this conversation in his memoir,
Reminiscences
, pp. 303–4.
  
6
   
Malkov,
Reminiscences
, pp. 307–9.
  
7
   
Malkov (
Reminiscences
, p. 310) definitely states that ‘
Poproboval potyanut dver na sebya
 . . .’, which Berberova (
Moura
, p. 65) also translates as ‘I tried to pull the door toward me’. Possibly it was an outer protective door.
  
8
   
The British always called Malkov ‘Mankoff’ (Malkov,
Reminiscences
, p. 311; Lockhart,
British Agent
, p. 317). It seems to have irritated him.
  
9
   
Malkov,
Reminiscences
, pp. 311–3; Lockhart,
British Agent
, p. 317. Malkov had read
British Agent
when he wrote his own memoir, and is scathing about Lockhart’s version, claiming that he did not draw his pistol during the arrest. Regarding Lockhart’s claim that there were ten armed men in the room, Malkov suggests that fear often gives people double vision, and that in Lockhart’s case it was tripled. However, it seems unlikely, given the obstructiveness of Moura and Hicks, and the fact that he was dealing with a case of attempted assassination, plus the fact that two Petrograd Chekists had been killed that day while attempting to arrest British subjects, that Malkov would not draw his weapon as a precaution. He seems to have thoroughly disliked Lockhart, and in this episode seems intent on portraying him in as abject a manner as possible. It’s possible that Malkov’s dislike stemmed from an incident at the Smolny Institute in February when he tried to detain Lockhart and prevent him seeing Trotsky; this earned him a sharp rebuke from Trotsky and a patronising put-down from Lockhart (Malkov,
Reminiscences
, pp. 306–9). Malkov seems to have been conscious of his peasant origins, and although he idolised Lenin he was not overly fond of Trotsky.
10
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, pp. 318–19.
11
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, pp. 317–20.
12
   
Malkov,
Reminiscences
, pp. 315–20. The document is reproduced in a report by Yakov Peters (‘The Lockhart Case’, p. 495). According to Peters, Maria Fride was arrested at a nearby flat in Sheremetievskiy pereulok (now Romanov pereulok) that was being used by Sidney Reilly. This has been cited in several biographies of Reilly. However, aside from being contradicted by Malkov, who was present at the interrogation and gives a vividly detailed account, Peters’ report contains several other discrepancies which cast doubt on the reliability of several statements relating to Lockhart. See Chapter 12.
13
   
Malkov,
Reminiscences
, pp. 317–18.
14
   
Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, pp. 502–3. Aleksandr Fride was later sentenced to death and shot (Rabinowitch,
Bolsheviks in Power
, p. 338).
15
   
Mitrokhin,
Chekisms
, pp. 65–6.
16
   
Mitrokhin,
Chekisms
, p. 70.
17
   
Lockhart,
British Agent
, p. 320.
18
   
Lockhart, diary entry for 1 Sept. 1918, in
Diaries vol. 1
, p. 40. In
British Agent
(p. 320) he says he was released at 9 a.m., whereas according to Malkov it was a few hours later. In his diary, Lockhart confusingly states that he was in custody
from
9 a.m. (
Diaries vol. 1
, p. 40).
19
   
Malkov,
Reminiscences
, p. 319; Peters, ‘The Lockhart Case’, p. 514. Lockhart himself is the source for Chicherin’s intervention (
British Agent
, p. 320).

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