The file arrived in Britain in 1992 when KGB Major Vasili Mitrokhin defected to Britain, bringing with him, in six trunks, an archive of 30 years of Soviet secrets. It was her refusal to get drawn into the glamorous side of being a mole, unlike Philby from the Cambridge University set, that allowed Norwood to evade detection. Find family history information in a whole new way Create a free family tree for yourself or for Melita Sirnis and we'll search for valuable new information for you.
Burke, who later wrote The Spy Who Came In From the Co-op: Melita Norwood and the Ending of Cold War Espionage, noted that Norwood kept repeating I thought Id got away with it. Yet as Burke wrote, she actually did get away with it: even after her outing, the government still declined to prosecute her. Incredibly, despite doubts about her extreme Left-wing sympathies and links, she was cleared. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. When she was unmasked publicly as Hola seven years later, no action was taken against her because by then she was 87, and Jack Straw, then Labour Home Secretary, decided that at her age, nothing was to be gained from sending her to prison. She was only a secretary.. In 1999, an 87-year-old British woman held a press conference in front of her home to announce that for nearly four decades, shed worked as a spy for the Soviet Union. The cause of death was not disclosed. Described as the most important female agent ever recruited by the USSR, she was considered more valuable than infamous British Reds Kim Philby or Guy Burgess. Dame Judy Dench stars as the KGB's longest serving British spy in 'Red Joan', Melita Norwood reads a statement in her garden, which she had lovingly tended, Judi Dench plays an older Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, Melita Norwood aged 87 when she faced the cameras, Sophie Cookson plays Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, The former British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association building in central London, Norwood read her statement, surrounded by the garden that she loved so much. Norwood would make copies then deliver them to her KGB handlers. In 2000, a parliamentary committee that oversaw intelligence agencies criticised the government for failing to prosecute Norwood. In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. And how had the mole managed to infiltrate our system? Melita Norwood aged 87 when she faced the cameras ( Image: PA) Sophie Cookson plays Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood ( Image: Nick Wall/Lions Gate) Don't Miss Norwood wasn't a. Cu MIX za . The KGB awarded her the prestigious military honour the Order of the Red Banner. "I must have thought if any of the work the BN-FMRA was doing, not secret stuff, might be useful," she explained. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. She connects with her former Communist lover Leo who encourages her to hand over secrets to the Russians. Though Norwoods employers were suspicious of her ties to the Communist Party, over decades of work they never pinpointed her as a mole. "She once said to me she didn't agree with spying against one's country. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. But this was just a token attempt.The main story is a standard spy . Well, she was partly aided by the boys club atmosphere of MI5, the British Security Service. Everyone liked her. melita norwood daughter, anita fergusonhot wheels mystery car code list melita norwood daughter, anita ferguson. ''I thought, 'Who is this nutter?' Her ability to understand technical material meant she was promoted to secretary to the director. / It was a terrible shock. five years later, saying only, ''Somebody said that my work might be an interesting source of material.'' Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. She was perusing the archives of 20th-century intelligence under the guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. She added, ''In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country.''. Following in her fathers footsteps, Norwood joined the Communist Party. ''I did what I did not to make money but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service,'' she read in a firm voice. When Leo is away, Joan begins to fall for co-worker Max Davis (Stephen Campbell Moore), the man who eventually becomes her husband and Nicks father. There were several cries of ''traitor!'' At the height of the war in 1943, she took time off to have a child, Anita. This was to be her big chance, as the association played a key part in our nuclear project, codenamed Tube Alloys when it began four years later. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Lived In Woodbridge VA, Cranberry Township PA, Mentor OH, Aurora IL. Born to a British mother and Latvian father, Norwood is most famous for supplying the Soviet Union with state secrets concerning the development of atomic weapons from her job at . 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If Melita Norwood had died just a few years ago, the only obituary would have been in her local paper, recalling the one eccentricity of a Bexleyheath octogenarian: for . Right to the end, Norwood maintained her belief in communism. Melita Norwood made her unrepentant confession Saturday in the well-tended garden of freesia and daisies in front of her two-story stucco home in Bexleyheath, southeast London. She said her purpose had been to keep Russia abreast.". Filming of Red Joan in Cambridge City Centre (Image: Keith Jones) Red Joan is a film based, although highly romanticised, on the true story of spy Melita Norwood who stole . She told me she would have been prepared to be tried as a war criminal and would have accepted a prison sentence.. All Rights Reserved. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. Melita Norwood. He kept sensitive documents in both, sometimes holding evening meetings at home at which Lette was expected to be on hand. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Related To Thomas Ferguson, John Ferguson, Jacob Ferguson. 2023 Getty Images. Anyone can read what you share. Monday, 13 September, 1999, 17:35 GMT 18:35 UK, The BBC's Jon Silverman: "At the outbreak of war she was more highly valued than Kim Philby", Nigel West, Intelligence Expert: "Such individuals should be pursued", Journalist David Rose: "The people that she lives among have not a clue as to her past", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. "I did what I did, not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service.". Melita Norwood And in April 2019, a film adaptation premiered in the U.K. and the U.S. starring Judi Dench as Joan Stanley, the fictional counterpart to Melita Norwood, the real-life spy. She was a traitor to her country and had got away with it for decades. Also known as Anita L Goertz, A L Ferguson. Despite her odd hobby no one really thought much of it but if they had perhaps her past wouldn't have come as so much of a shock as reporters clambered for a shot of her on her drive. It seemed that Britain was headed into another of the spy expose frenzies that have occurred periodically with the unmaskings of men like Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross who followed their Communist sympathies into espionage. Her father had fled from Russia to England and found a home here, but this meant little to Norwood. Even after she was publicly exposed in 1999 as having worked for the KGB, neighbours found it very hard to condemn the nice old girl whod been such a good neighbour for decades. Norwood wasn't a physicist she was a drop out from Southampton University, where she only studied Latin and Logic for a year. Two weeks ago, nine years after her death, Melitas barely-known name unexpectedly re-emerged when the Mitrokhin Archive, a file of top secret Soviet documents, was made available to the public for the first time. Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op. The comments below have not been moderated, By
13:54, 18 APR 2019. She wasnt like the Cambridge Five, who courted disaster. While three of the gang were uncovered, she escaped discovery and took up a job as a secretary at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in the same year. , updated Indeed, so trusted was Lette that she had access to Baileys two safes. At the age of 20, in . 00:34 GMT 19 Jul 2014 From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and passed them to Moscow. The reality is that Norwood was devoted to her husband, who she nursed through liver cancer up to his death in 1986. By
''I thought they should somehow be adequately defended because everyone was against them, against this experiment, and they had been through such hardship from the Germans,'' she told her television interviewer. Her confession that sunny Saturday came as a surprise to everyone but none more than her daughter, Anita, a school lab technician. She was born in Bournemouth to Alexander Sirnis, a Latvian immigrant with strong Communist ties. Melita Norwood, nee Sirnis, was born in 1912, the English daughter of a Latvian father and a British mother, and grew up in unremarkable circumstances in the Home Counties. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. On September 11th 1999 The Times newspaper carried the front page article "Revealed: the quiet woman who betrayed Britain for 40 years. For other inquiries Contact Us. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Unions longest-serving British spy. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. She was perusing the archives of 20th-century intelligence under the guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Melita Norwood death. He said: "Melita was not a hard-line Stalinist. I thought perhaps what I had access to might be useful in helping Russia to keep abreast of Britain, America and Germany. She added that, in general, I do not agree with spying against one's country.. FOR decades the secret services were left chasing shadows in the hunt for agent Hola Russias most effective spy in Britain. The ideologically driven spy turned down a Russian pension and was never paid for her undercover work. Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis; 25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant and treasonous KGB intelligence source who, for a period after her formal recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB (and its predecessor agencies ) with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. Daughter Anita tried to downplay the damage Norwood had done, saying: There are questions about whether it was really useful at all to the Russians. spy. Melita Stedman Norwood ( ne Sirnis; 25 Maret 1912 - 2 Juni 2005) adalah seorang pegawai negeri Inggris dan sumber intelijensi KGB. from the crowd in her street. It was a show of compassion Russian wouldn't have shown if the tables were turned. When her activities became publicly known in 1999, Norwood had said: "I did what I did not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. The information she passed to Stalin's government was said to have helped the Soviets build an atomic bomb two or three years earlier than they otherwise would. Until her death, on 2 June at the age of 93, she began her days with the Today programme. Why Bother? But she always felt she did the right thing. Her handlers were top Soviet spies Ursula Kuczynski, aka Red Sonja, and playboy Gordon Lonsdale, who was jailed in 1961 for espionage. Date of death. The daughter of grandmother Melita Norwood, unmasked as one of Britain's biggest traitors, last night told how the former spy kept details of her treachery secret from her to the very last moment. At first she's unsure, but then we see her give in because she wants an even playing field between Russian and the USA. in Europe and the West,'' by a Cambridge professor, Christopher Andrew. Home Secretary Jack Straw has asked Britain's internal Security Service, M.I.5, for a full report on the case, but a Home Office spokeswoman said today that the Government would have no comment on the other names emerging. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Melita Norwood, now called Joan Stanley, is played by two actors. One was in his office and the other at his London home. Anita Ferguson, the daughter of Melita Norwood, "has spoken of her distress at discovering the double life led by her mother throughout her childhood." His occupation was Yes. But as she became head girl of Hitchin Grammar School and captained the hockey team, few could have predicted the extraordinary outcome of such an early communist indoctrination. While his identity still remains unknown to the public, Norwood confessed later: "I am not going to deny itI take complete responsibility and blame.". Jennie Rooneys book Red Joan is inspired by the story she found but isnt based on the true story, there are quite a few differences between the two. This traitor in our midst had handed over nuclear bomb-related documents so highly classified that most of the Cabinet did not know they existed. If you want to learn more about this . These documents revealed Norwoods espionage, but British officials kept it secret because they didnt think there was enough evidence to prosecute. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. Includes Address (9) Phone (3) Email (1) See Results. For Mrs Norwood was no ordinary granny. / She had links with a spy ring working for the Soviets in the Woolwich Arsenal, and three other agents were caught by MI5 and imprisoned. The public were shocked when elderly woman Melita Norwood was uncovered as a KGB spy. The Russians knew how to build a bomb, but they didnt know how to build a nuclear reactor to extract the uranium. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. In 1979, she and her husbandwho knew about her spying and disapprovedvisited Moscow so the Soviet Union could award her the Order of the Red Banner (she accepted the honorary award, but turned down the financial reward). Universitas Southampton. The film depicts her as a woman who, while clearly out of her depth, is really the person responsible for seeing nuclear bombs as a deterrent rather than a weapon. '', Ray Simmons, 67, a retired chief technician at the University of Greenwich, who lives nearby, commented: ''I've known her for 20 years, and she never gave a hint of anything like that. Year old great-grandmother Melita Norwood stands outside her home in Bexleyheath, where she reads a statement to the press concerning her involment. Where those men hid their activities behind their upper-class backgrounds, elite educations and urbanity, Mrs. Norwood disguised hers with her complete suburban unremarkableness. She was dressed in a wide-collared lavender floral print blouse and gray tweed skirt and clutched a handwritten piece of paper with slightly trembling fingers. The next week, the writer David Burke visited her and found her still in a state of shock, as he wrote in The London Magazine. Shes a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic.. Melita Norwood. 131,-K/kg.
But she had sexual predator Lonsdale ditched, says Dr Burke, as she didnt want to work with him because of his lack of professionalism. Posted on January 17, 2022 | by . Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis) (25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant and KGB intelligence source who, for a period of about 40 years following her recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB (and its predecessor agencies) with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. When she was finally unmasked, confessing in her garden, the public called for her to be prosecuted but Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled that dragging such an old woman into court would be inappropriate. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. The daughter of a Latvian father and an English mother, Norwood held fiercely left-wing views from an early age. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images) Embed Save PURCHASE A LICENSE A . Her espionage activities weren't publicly revealed until 1999, when former archivist Vasili Mitrokhin - who. We all knew where her politics lay. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. Unlike those Mata Hari-style seductresses whose treachery is based in the boudoir, Mrs Norwood was a very different kind of agent. Cambridge Professor, Christopher Andrew kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden Warriors... Hari-Style seductresses whose treachery is based in the boudoir, Mrs Norwood was the Soviet Union & # x27 t... Your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators decades of they! Include adverts from us and third parties based on melita norwood daughter, anita ferguson knowledge of you the foot of the Cabinet did know... 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