Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Britain negotiated an agreement with their Soviet ally to supply them with military aid. There was also a secret agreement to bring Soviet agents on the Arctic convoys back to Scotland and facilitate their infiltration into occupied Western Europe. The Special Operations Executive, a top-secret British organisation established under Winston Churchill's order to "set Europe ablaze by sabotage, " was tasked with the mission. They created a Russian Section and its Director was keen to recruit Russian-speakers to assist them, some to provide intelligence on the Soviet Union, some to help identify other potential recruits and others to be trained as secret agents and be infiltrated behind enemy lines.
White Russians, men and women who had emigrated from Russia and settled in Britain were identified. Others who had settled in France but escaped to Britain following Germany's invasion were investigated. It was from this group that Britain looked to recruit agents for espionage and subversion. Four members of the Russian nobility were considered but investigation by Britain's Intelligence Services revealed that they or their families had close contacts with people connected to the Germans. This mitigated against their recruitment.
Two brothers from a medical family were vetted successfully and were recruited. Both were sent to work with Force 136, an SOE military organisation in Southeast Asia. One of them was awarded the MBE for his work in India and Malaya.
A father and son, both professional wrestlers, joined SOE and taught unarmed combat, one in Canada, one in Italy. One of them received an MBE for his efforts.
Two had escaped to China where, recruited by SOE for action against the Japanese, they assisted the British in Shanghai, Hongkong and Chungking. Both were evacuated to India and one subsequently worked in Cairo.
Of the three who received full SOE training, one was eventually found unsuitable to be infiltrated behind enemy lines so was transferred to the Americans for Allied propaganda work. Another was infiltrated into France to work with the resistance in liberating their country. He received the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom. The last was sent first to Serbia and then to India where the work he did led to him being awarded the MBE.
Bernard O'Connor's 'Churchill's Russian Secret Agents' tells these unusual stories for the first time.