seriouskeron.blogg.se

Helen and Peter Kroger were deep undercover, under fake identities and the ruse of working as bookkeepers.

Lonsdale would then courier the documents to Kroger’s house in Ruislip. His real name was Konon Molody via the Science Museum ) (Img Gordon Lonsdale’s fake Canadian Passport. This was sometimes cash, but also sometimes other incentives such as play tickets. Lonsdale would then intercept documents and provide Houghton and Gee with payment for their service. Houghton would either travel alone or with Gee to London, wherein they would meet his contact, Lonsdale. Houghton would then photocopy these documents. As a result, they developed a system wherein Gee would steal and hide classified documents on her person to bring them to Houghton. As such, she was easy for Houghton to recruit to assist with his illegal espionage activities. Additionally, she was in love with Houghton, and the two had an affair. However, she was a low-paid clerk for the Portland Underwater Weapons Facility. Gee had access to documentation of a higher classification than Houghton whilst they were working at the Underwater Weapons Establishment in Portland. Later, Polish forces passed him on as a contact to the KGB on his return to England. Harry Houghton, whilst working for the British Embassy in Warsaw in 1952, was recruited to sell British classified documentation to the Polish Secret Service. As a result, the operation lasted from the early 1950s until 1961.

The Portland Spy Ring existed to gain information about British naval capabilities during the Cold War. (Img Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee via BBC News )

Peter Kroger – Married to Helen Kroger.

They had been working undercover as booksellers, but had actually been sending material collected from Lonsdale back to Moscow.

Helen Kroger – Helen Kroger married and lived with Peter Kroger.

Authorities then send this documents to Moscow.

Gordon Lonsdale – Houghton and Gee’s contact Lonsdale collected information supplied by them and would courier the documents to the Korgers’ home.

Gee was colleague of Houghton, and she had access to material of higher classification than Houghton.

Ethel Gee – Gee worked as a filing clerk at the Underwater Weapons Establishment in Portland, UK.

Polish Intelligence recruited him as a spy in the 1950s, and then passed him onto Soviet Intelligence. Later, authorities moved him to the Underwater Weapons Establishment in Portland, UK.

Harry Houghton – Houghton had worked in the Royal Navy during WW2, and then was a clerk to the British Naval Attaché in Warsaw.

The members of the Portland Spy Ring are as follows:

The Portland Spy Ring therefore tangibly changed the course of the Cold War – the group aided the Soviet government to further their technology programmes, as well as further their understanding of UK naval capabilities. Most think that the intelligence gained by Soviet forces from the Portland Spy Ring ultimately informed Soviet manufacture of much more efficient submarines and naval technology. Whilst the exact number of documents shared by the Portland Spy Ring to Soviet forces remains unknown, MI5 now estimates that the Portland Spy Ring illicitly shared in excess of 350 highly sensitive naval documents with the KGB. Remarkably, the Portland Spy Ring was able to operate for many years without detection.