Ward's Book of Days.
Pages of interesting anniversaries.
What happened on this day in history.
JANUARY 1st
On this day in history in 1912 was born Kim Philby.
Philby, along with Burgess, MacLean and Blunt, was one of the notorious Soviet double agents. Philby was head of counterespionage at MI6 while, all the while, working for the KGB. No one knows for sure what secrets Philby revealed while he was employed by MI6 but it is known that he tipped off Burgess and MacLean that they were under suspicion allowing them time to flee to the Soviet Union.
When suspicion fell on Philby in 1951, he was fired from MI6 but, oddly, no further action was taken. He worked as a journalist until 1963 when he followed his old chums Burgess and MacLean to Moscow.
· Philby’s exploits are detailed in his book My Silent War but who would believe the word of a double agent?
· Philby’s real first name was Harold. He was nicknamed Kim after the eponymous spy in Kipling’s novel Kim.
· Philby became a character in three novels.
Declare by Tim Powers
The Forth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth
The Company by Robert Littell
Recommended reading.
Borovik, Genrikh. The Philby Files published by Little, Brown & Co Ltd, Canada, 1994, ISBN 0-316-19284-9.
Buy it here at Amazon
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