But she always felt she did the right thing. As the news of Norwoods espionage broke in The Times, Norwood held a press conference to confirm that she was a spy and explain why shed done it. Straw said: "She had not in practice had authorized access to government secrets after 1949," and her security clearance was revoked in 1951. She removed items from her boss' safe, photographing details and sending them on to the Soviets, as is seen in the film. Her motivations weren't as pure as the film suggests either. Melita Norwood Her handlers were top Soviet spies Ursula Kuczynski, aka Red Sonja, and playboy Gordon Lonsdale, who was jailed in 1961 for espionage. Red Joan is a 2018 film very loosely inspired by Norwood's life, starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson. But she continued to send these secret files until the early 1970s, when she retired as a spy. 13:54, 18 APR 2019. We see Joan struggle with the Communist Party she is dropped into thanks to the company she keeps. By the time she agreed to work for the KGB, she had been promoted and was personal assistant to the director. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Mon 27 Jun 2005 20.03 EDT. <br> <br>'Red Joan': the film vs the facts. As early as 1938, she was. Husband (m. 19351986). How she came to be in a position to do that is a source of great embarrassment to MI5. When she visited Moscow with her husband in 1979, she was given an honor for her work, the Order of the Red Banner, which she accepted, and offered a financial reward, which she turned down. Image of spy Melita Norwood opening Norwood Labs at Greenwich University in 1993. After all, Norwood had actually been investigated no less than seven times, she'd even been identified as a security risk in 1965. Then in 1932, Norwood, now 20, began work in the clerical department of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association (BN-FMRA). Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The trick is to be able to do this efficiently enough, and respond quickly enough, to take on the game's content that you would like to experience while . FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. At firs the Security Service insisted her part in everything had been "marginal", it was a huge embarrassment. Her father died when she was six, but her mother was active in leftist causes, instilling in her children strong sentiments against all war and sympathy for countries like Germany that the family viewed as victims of warfare. The newspaper will begin on Monday to serialize a book published in Britain as ''The Mitrokhin Archive: The K.G.B. "Melita Norwood's relatives, friends and neighbours told [on 11 September 1999] of their shock on learning . Incredibly, despite doubts about her extreme Left-wing sympathies and links, she was cleared. '', See the article in its original context from. Hilary Norwood The revelations came as a total surprise to Norwood's daughter, Anita Ferguson, who didnt find out her mother was a spy until she read about it in the paper. Her handler described her as a loyal, trustworthy, disciplined agent who passed to the KGB a large amount of vital data. documents by the code name ''Hola.'' Her espionage activities weren't publicly revealed until 1999, when former archivist Vasili Mitrokhin - who. She connects with her former Communist lover Leo who encourages her to hand over secrets to the Russians. Melita Norwood With fish fingers on the side. London - Melita Norwood, a British woman who was unmasked as a Soviet spy a decade ago, had died at age 93, said her family on Tuesday. "It's just what you did" she says. She added, ''In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country.''. As early as 1938, she was nearly caught by the British. I talked to her about the spying, but she told me very little of what she had done, though she did say my father didnt approve. Norwood died in 2005, but people have remained fascinated with her story. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Norwood joined Southampton University but dropped out and moved to Germany at the time of the rise of the Nazis. A writer, journalism and follower of Lenin - who formed the Communist Party in Great Britain - they were acquainted. Melita Norwood, now called Joan Stanley, is played by two actors. Red Joan (2018) Ben Miles as Nick IMDb. I remember her talking to me once about Karl Marx. We see Joan struggle with the Communist Party she is dropped into thanks to the company she keeps. While his identity still remains unknown to the public, Norwood confessed later: "I am not going to deny itI take complete responsibility and blame.". Spy Melita Norwood (far left) pictured with her mother Gertrude, sister Gerty and half-brother Alfred Brandt. Through all those years, her husband, a fellow Communist Party member who died in 1985, knew she was spying for the KGB. 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.. 1998 In December, Mr Straw is informed for the first time heard about Melita Norwood's role and is told the Security Service was considering whether to prosecute. She was perusing the archives of 20th-century intelligence under the guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler. 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. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Untroubled by the problems of the world, and with the added comfort of her married daughter Anita living nearby, Melita Norwood enjoyed the tranquillity of the small development ringed with flowering trees, and got on with her jam-making until her death, aged 93. This week her daughter defended her mums decision to spy for the Soviets from 1934 to 1972. Theodore Rothstein was one of the people in their group. Melita Norwood Melita grew up to become a bright young girl, which she proved in 1923 by winning a scholarship to attend Itchen School, a secondary school near Southampton, in Southern England. 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 told the press in front of her home. She was, in many ways, the perfect spy, living during most of her long years of treason in a pebble-dash semi in Bexleyheath, South-East London, with her maths and chemistry teacher husband Hilary, growing fresh vegetables in her back garden allotment and bringing up their daughter Anita. How fortunate she was. How did Norwood get away with it for so long? The couple's daughter, Anita Ferguson, 56, a biologist living in Staffordshire, said she learned of her mother's activity from the newspaper report Saturday. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Norwood's daughter, Anit what happened to melita norwood. Anita Ferguson Close. She's a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic," she told The Daily Mail at the time. She began her spying career in the 1930s while working as a secretary for the Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London. Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. Her confession that sunny Saturday came as a surprise to everyone but none more than her daughter, Anita, a school lab technician. But Cambridge Universitys Dr David Burke, who interviewed Norwood for a book about her life, The Spy Who Came In From The Co-Op, insisted last night: She was a crucial spy. Her father had fled from Russia to, Key to this was research into metallurgy and this is exactly what Melita Norwood had access to in her apparently lowly job. But this was just a token attempt.The main story is a standard spy . Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op. Norwood was the most important British female agent in the whole of the KGB's history as well as the longest-serving of all the Soviet spies in Britain. FOR decades the secret services were left chasing shadows in the hunt for agent Hola Russias most effective spy in Britain. 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", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. She was only a secretary.. 's foreign intelligence section, who defected to the British in 1992. Klaus Fuchs, Physicist Who Gave Atom Secrets to Soviet, Dies at 76 The New York Times. Melita Norwood, codenamed Hola, was a prized spy in Moscow Passed on Britain's top nuclear secrets over a period of 35 years Her name emerged in the Mitrokhin Archive nine years after she died. Related To Kenneth Ferguson, Cameron Ferguson, Curtis Ferguson, Separate Ferguson, Monica Ferguson. In 1958 she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, which is given for heroism in combat or long service in the armed forces. She says he disapproved of her spying, but "never tried to stop me". Akce tdne. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Behind this dull company name was an important firm involved in vital research. ''But she was just the normal grandmother who came in once a week to pay her bill. 00:48 GMT 19 Jul 2014. She was lovely, a pure lady, says Sheila Howell, who was a neighbour for more than 20 years. She ended her days in a cosy, third-floor rented flat in a sheltered housing complex. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos It was incredibly valuable. It became clear later, when Pavel Sudoplatov of the Russian Ministry of State Security admitted it was 'sources' from Great Britain that helped with such problems, that it was Norwood who gave them the final puzzle piece. There were calls to prosecute the granny traitor, but the secret services did not want the details of their failure to come out at trial. The Russians had been struggling to find a solution to an issue they were having with creating the atomic bomb when Norwood found the answer. But a male superior dismissed her tip because he didnt think women could be good spies (in 1940, he fired Maund for accusing him of incompetence). Which substance has the highest temperature? Her husband Harry, died in 1986. As she retreated back into her house, she murmured, ''No, no, no,'' to shouted questions asking whether she regretted her actions. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Joan also comes up with the idea of enriching uranium in the film, which is part of the process of making atomic energy. Melita Norwood was a die-hard communist and unapologetic about her spying. Melita (everyone called her Lette) had joined the company as a clerk in 1937. The KGB awarded her the prestigious military honour the Order of the Red Banner. Melita turned down all the offers from newspapers, preferring to tell her story - for free - to her friend David Burke. spy. "Whatever she may have done, I loved her. Shes a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic.. The cause of death was not disclosed. Norwood, who admitted passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, was exposed by Vasili Mitrokhin, who defected to Britain with a trove of KGB documents in 1992. 1999, 22 April Mr Straw is told that the Attorney General had advised against prosecution as it would be "inappropriate". Her occupation was occupation. Joan and Max go to Australia, but return to Britain at some point. Whatever she may have done, I love her, said the mother of two. Reuters. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. The public were shocked when elderly woman Melita Norwood was uncovered as a KGB spy. Indeed, so trusted was Lette that she had access to Baileys two safes. The spy who came in from the Co-op." Melita Norwood, the last of the atomic spies, hadfinally been run to ground, but at 87 she was deemed too old to prosecute. ''In the war the Russians were on our side, and it was unfair to them that they shouldn't be able to develop their weaponry.''. She wasnt like the Cambridge Five, who courted disaster. The Great-Grandmother Comes In From the Cold, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/13/world/the-great-grandmother-comes-in-from-the-cold.html. Melita Norwood was a member of one of those communist spy networks in America and Britain, who by guaranteeing those weapons of mass destruction threw down a challenge to America as sole superpower in the post-Second World War era. 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. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), New film Red Joan tells the tale of Melita Norwood - a KGB 'man on the inside' who went undetected in Britain for almost 40 years, Melita Norwood, aka Hola, was Russia's most effective spy and wasn't unmasked until 1999, Described as 'the most important female agent ever recruited by the USSR', she is now the inspiration behind Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson's character with the pair playing her at different stages in her life, Her daughter, Anita Ferguson, defends her mother's career as a spy saying 'she did it to help the Russian people', Anita says Norwood was trying to help people and 'wasn't selfish', After joining the Communist Party, Norwood was recruited as a Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein when she was just 22, The film is a glamorised version of events but there is no doubt it is based on unlikely operative Norwood, She never revealed her true identity, not even to her devoted husband Hilary (right), Despite having put millions of lives at risk, Norwood was never prosecuted for her treachery and she never expressed regret for her actions, Norwood leaked highly-classified documents that she came into contact with through her work as a secretary to the director of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, Dr Burke says that it was only when she gave the Russians information on how to safely enrich uranium that they were able to test a bomb in 1949, Dr Burke believes Norwood enjoyed her moment of notoriety, noting the moment she dressed up to address the press outside her home, Asked if the story was true, Norwood replied 'Ive been a rather naughty little girl', Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Her mother still remained part of the Left-wing political scene, influencing young Norwood who then joined the CPGB. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. files complimented her as ''a committed, reliable and disciplined agent, striving to be of the utmost assistance.'' Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. 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). Unlike those Mata Hari-style seductresses whose treachery is based in the boudoir, Mrs Norwood was a very different kind of agent. The film portrays Norwood as a doddering old woman that when unmasked struggles to understand what she did wrong and what is happening to her. I certainly didn't.". It was her appointment at the research facility that gave her the access she needed. 87years (December 9, 1934) But a decision not to put her on trial was quickly taken so that the collapsing Soviets would remain in ignorance about just how much we knew. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Following in her fathers footsteps, Norwood joined the Communist Party. "In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country. '', 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. 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 the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, where she . / It was a complete shock at the time, says Anita, now 71. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Dr Burke says: She was a sophisticated spy. Although her father died when she was six, the family still held Left-wing views which the bright child absorbed from an early age. 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. 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. Norwood was a long-time member of the Communist Party who supported the Soviet Unions attempt to bring communism to Eastern Europe and feared a world in which the United States and Western Europe held unchallenged nuclear power. 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. She said her purpose had been to keep Russia abreast.". She was born in Bournemouth to Alexander Sirnis, a Latvian immigrant with strong Communist ties. All Rights Reserved. In many other countries, the grey-haired great-grandmother would have ended her days in prison, or even been shot. I made the approach.". 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. / "'I Gave Bomb Secrets to Russia So It Could Stand Up to the West.'" . She was dressed in a wide collared lavender floral print blouse and gray tweed skirt and clutching a handwritten piece of paper with slightly trembling fingers. Working so close to highly classified research, Lette had to go through a security vetting. The couple's daughter, Anita Ferguson, 56, a biologist living in Staffordshire, said she learned of her mother's activity from the newspaper report on Saturday. 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. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. It came as a massive shock to her daughter and to Dr Burke, who already knew Norwood. It was a show of compassion Russian wouldn't have shown if the tables were turned. Creative Editorial Spy/Daughter Anita Ferguson Anita Ferguson, a school laboratory technician from Wombourne, Staffordshire, speaks to the media following the news that her 87-year-old mother Melita Norwood spied for the Russians for 40 years. The elderly woman exposed as the longest-serving Soviet spy in Britain was a fresh-faced 25-year-old when her political idealism first drove her into spying for the Soviet Union. ''When I first saw all the. 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. 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. She had been working for five years in the general office of the British Non Ferrous Metals Research Association in Euston, North London when her career in espionage first began. 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. Also known as Anita A James, Ferguson Anita. British intelligence only confirmed she was a spy in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, when the former KGB officer Vasili Mitrokhin defected to the United Kingdom and turned over six trunks of archive information about Soviet spying. People in the neighborhood said they were aware that Mrs. Norwood, locally famed for the quality of her homemade chutney, held radical views for their largely Conservative-voting area. But for the 40 years that she worked for Moscow, her bank balance rarely reflected the spoils of her labour. She was a traitor to her country and had got away with it for decades. Its just what you did she says. The media were all gathered to hear what she had to say after revelations in the newspaper that day - Norwood had been a Soviet spy for nearly 40 years. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. Along with the geraniums in her windows there are anti-war and nuclear disarmament stickers, and on a cupboard shelf visible through the kitchen window is a mug with Che Guevara's bearded face on it. [9] The film was shot in the UK. Melita Norwood. Ironically, reporters found anti-nuclear CND signs in her kitchen, where she made chutney. Resides in Monticello, AR. 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. What is the disease caused by diplococci. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images), 1268 x 1012 px (4.23 x 3.37 in) - 300 dpi - 357 KB. This innocuous-sounding association was actually part of a secret nuclear weapons research project with the U.S. called Tube Alloy. When no one was looking, Norwood would sneak into her boss office, open his safe and take pictures of the secret documents inside. melita norwood daughter anita ferguson We are no longer accepting comments on this article. This was a woman who was seen pottering around tending to her vegetables and flowers. 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. Legacy Six years later, Melita Norwood died of cancer and heart disease at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, on June 2, 2005. Despite being investigated by them TEN times, and not hiding her socialist sympathies, Norwood secured a job that gave her access to Britains nuclear secrets. Her father had fled from Russia to England and found a home here, but this meant little to Norwood. At the height of the war in 1943, she took time off to have a child, Anita. Agent Hola's time was up. The intelligence and security committee said Norwood had escaped prosecution because a junior officer in the domestic secret service MI5 decided the case was not worth pursuing. These documents revealed Norwoods espionage, but British officials kept it secret because they didnt think there was enough evidence to prosecute. Her mother, too, was a suffragette with far-Left sympathies. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and. 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. "Granny spy" Melita Norwood has died at the age of 93, her daughter has confirmed. Norwood never revealed to anyone what she was up to, not even to her Left-leaning husband Hilary, a maths teacher. He too was a member of the Communist Party. Alma mater. 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The information helped the communist state catch up with Britain in the race to build the deadliest weapons ever seen. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Except for one thing she worked at the British NonFerrous Metals Research Association offices in Euston, central London. The Soviet Union's bomb coincided with the onset of The Cold War, and threatened humankind with extinction. She claims failing memory as a reason for not being able to recall the names of any of the people she dealt with. Anita said: She kept it from everyone. , updated ''I would not have liked to have kept such a secret.''. There were several cries of ''traitor!'' We are no longer accepting comments on this article. in Aktuality. It's quite a shock to be told that the sweet old lady round the corner has been a K.G.B. Her daughter, Anita Ferguson, said she died on June 2. In the BBC interview for broadcast next Sunday, Mrs. Norwood explains that in addition to sympathizing with the social gains that the Soviet experiment promised, she thought that in the postwar era, the Soviet Union represented the only counterbalance to capitalism and that the West should not be allowed an advantage as great as sole possession of nuclear bombs. The last time she visited Russia was in 1979, with her husband, when she says she again rejected financial reward. Dr Burke explains: At one time she was vetted again. According to new book by Cambridge University professor Christopher Andrew and a Soviet KGB defector, a woman named Melita Norwood, now 87 years old, furnished the Soviet Union with research .
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