"The scout does not always work in white gloves". past of a russian spy who made millions in England on alarm systems

Konan the Barbarian and Konon the Cossack

It is no longer a secret that the prototype of the main protagonist of the celebrated so far in Russia of the russian spy movie “dead season” with Donatas Banionis in the lead function was Konon Moloda. He was besides the film's main consultant. However, the movie reveals only a tiny part of an illegal spy's life. Most of the youth's work remains classified. But legends about him are numerous.

After the first name of millionaire Gordon Lonsdale was first given in the English police magazine in 1971, the media began to regularly compose about the Molody horse. It is not known which writer suggested that the spy was named after Conan Barbarian, whose first stories Robert Howard published in the 1930s in the American magazine "Weird Tales". According to this version, Konon's parents were educated people, and their comparative lived in the United States and could send close copies of the magazine.

Only any of these assumptions are true.

The parents of the future scout were indeed educated. My father was a physicist, my parent was a traumatologist and a professor. Their relatives did indeed live in the United States. However, the writer made a mistake about the date. The Moloda horse was born on 17 January 1922, and the first communicative of Conana Barbarians "Peniks on the Sword" was published in December 1932. In 1934 Robert Howard published a communicative of the “Steel Demon” about Conan, leader of Cossack robbers surviving on the Zaporozhka River.

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14-year-old Moloda Horse

In this case, Howard almost hit the jackpot. The name Konon (Greek: oznacza) was indeed rather popular in the Cossack community in the 19th century. This was the name of, among others, the grandpa of the future scout, Cossack elders and associate in respective wars of Konon Mołoda. It was in his honor that a second kid was named in the household of physicists and talented doctors. In 1929, erstwhile Konon was seven, his father abruptly died. parent was rather hard to take care of children and work. Then her older sister Anastasia, surviving in the United States, offered to take the children to America.

The organization authorities only allowed the younger Konon to leave. He arrived in San Francisco in 1932 and began his advanced school education. However, the situation in the US changed in 1938. She was crazy in the country. Great Depression and keeping an extra kid became problematic. Konon returned to Moscow and continued his studies here. He received a advanced school graduation certificate in 1940 and was called into the army almost immediately.

A young man who spoke freely in English was immediately spotted in an interview and sent to a German language course that Konon Molody mastered reasonably quickly. After the courses, he served as deputy chief of the division staff, however, he received his officer's degree after the war began. The superiors only tried to usage Konon as an interpreter, but he wanted to fight. He went behind the front lines with intelligence groups on multiple occasions. He finished the war in the rank of elder lieutenant, awarded the Order of the First and Second Patriot War, the Order of the Red Star, the medals “For Courage” and “For Combat Merit”. During the war, he besides learned French.

Business as a cover

In 1946, after demobilization from the military, Konon joined the law faculty of the Moscow abroad Trade Institute. However, he did not lose his passion for language learning and attended the faculty of Sinology on his own initiative, where he studied Chinese.

After receiving his diploma, Moloda remained in the institute, lectured and participated in the creation of a textbook for learning Chinese. At the same time, he was trained as a secret agent. Specialist training and the creation of legend took over 3 years.

In March 1955, Konon Moloda arrived in Canada on the basis of false documents. He had to legalize his stay there to then go to Britain, where he would yet work for the KGB.

The legend (which means false identity in the language of peculiar services) for Molody was developed in Moscow. In 1927, a flood occurred in Vancouver where more than 200 people were killed, including the Lonsdale family. In Moscow, a version of the 3 - year - old Gordon Lonsdale rescue was carefully developed, which was taken care of by an older couple. And erstwhile foster parents died, Gordon decided to regain his “real” name. In May 1955, a spy received a real birth certificate, followed by a driving licence under the name of Gordon Lonsdale, born in 1924.

The first phase of legalization was completed, but now you had to get a passport. According to Canadian law, 2 respected citizens were required to get this document: 1 was known as a businessman and the another was a popular priest.

After receiving his passport, Gordon Lonsdale left for the United States, and after any time, allegedly to proceed his studies at the University of London, moved to the United Kingdom.

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Moloda horse in 1965.

The faculty of Sinology of the University of London is considered 1 of the best in the world. In the 1960s, many English and American intelligence and military officers studied there. Gordon Lonsdale had to put quite a few effort into hiding that he knew Chinese. The university was a good cover, but college couldn't last forever. The centre (as the language of the service is called peculiar service management) proposed to Moldova that he think of another legend and draw attention to business.

Here's how Molody himself talks about this in his book “My Profession – Interview”:

But what should be his business? Trade? Goods production? Mediation? Services? For a long time, I have read regularly everything that has been published in newspapers about economical activity. But neither the London Advertiser advertising magazine, which feeds mainly on tempting offers of matrimony offices, nor half a twelve English newspapers, which for various reasons I had to look at all day, were of no interest to me.

The solution came unexpectedly. The newspapers in which I regularly reviewed the trade offerings had nothing to do with it. I simply pointed out something I could not neglect to notice: in nice, good, old England, compared to American Canada, there were very fewer vending machines!

Yeah, vending machines selling chewing gum, chocolate, cigarettes or something like that were just the business that even the god of commerce, Mercury, could not offer a scout. All you could do was shrug your arms, why didn't it happen to me before. It's that simple. And besides incredibly comfortable: you're your own boss. You don't answer to anyone. You take care of it whenever you want...

So the vending machine. Yeah, it was an idea! They can be installed and operated at a convenient time for you. Given that I've been busy forever, it gave me an advantage that could solve anything. My income was practically out of control at the taxation office. Who knows how many shillings I pulled out of my vending machines today! And since the amount of income cannot be determined, no 1 will be amazed at my advanced spending. And that this kind of information would come to the police in due time (or possibly even counterintelligence) was to be expected. Finally, police work and counterintelligence are based on the rule that "everyone must have visible livelihoods and live up to their incomes". Any deviations from this iron regulation immediately attract attention. Where necessary, specified information shall be communicated to the counterintelligence. The past of the interview knows many failures caused by the violation of this "compatibility principle".

Although business was only expected to be a cover-up and a way to hide the money that Molody was receiving from the Center, the vending machines business went beautiful unexpectedly. Now, it's not Moscow, but Lonsdale himself may have passed large sums of money to his friendly agents. Gradually Lonsdale gained a reputation as a serious businessman and became a individual well known in the circles of the London elite.

One of Moscow's myths of Molody told how, 1 time after returning to the russian Union, Mołody was invited to give a lecture in the cinema in Sochi. The lecture was to be closed, only for KGB staff, but respective high-ranking city officials managed to get to it. And it was during this talk that individual in the audience asked the interviewer how he could inactive do business with his basic work. Konon Trofimowicz began to talk in item about how he conducted business. And then he started comparing his businesses with the Soviets:

I was late invited to 1 of Moscow's factories and I was terrified: what a mess! You can't do that! I told the workers: all sloths would be thrown out on the first day, and the others would be doubled immediately. They started clapping me...

Then the secretary of the town committee of Sochi stood up in the first row and declared: “You are, of course, a hero, but don’t forget who you are. What are you saying?

“Why small-town people?” he was amazed by Moloda. “Just late I was a real millionaire, I had an elegant compartment in London, 8 cars, rented rooms at the most costly hotels and provided money for all my intelligence groups. So my views aren't small-town, they're large-town.

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Gordon Lonsdale's London business card

Lonsdale's business partner, unaware of his real work, proved to be a very enterprising man, constantly seeking fresh opportunities to invest money. While young people did not want to grow their activities, he decided to engage in 1 venture by investing money in an “electric guard”, the car alarm system.

The thought proved to be a large success and brought Lonsdale millions of pounds. In 1960, a car alarm strategy received a gold medal at the global industrial fairs in Brussels.

This fact gave emergence to another story — that Queen Elizabeth II gave Lonsdale a knighthood for his success in business. But there are no confirmations. Neither in a book in which Moloda tells rather extensively about his contacts with the English authorities, nor in the British press does he mention it. And specified a fact could not stay unnoticed by journalists, especially after Lonsdale was arrested.

The 1968 russian movie “Dead Season” tells about a fictional russian spy whose communicative is based on the communicative of Konon Molody:

Every profession has its costs

The movie “Dead Season” told about 1 of Operation Konon Molody. As shortly as he arrived in England, he was ordered to find evidence that German-exported to Britain after the war ended German scientists were developing bacteriological weapons. Evidence was acquired, published, scandal broke out, and the English completely halted their work on this weapon.

Molody's main success was working in Portland, where the largest British naval base and investigation centre were located. There, atomic submarines were designed, “her – alien” designation systems, means of exploration and protection, torpedoes and placers, mine armaments, reactors and many more.

Google Maps

Portland, UK

Lonsdale managed to recruit a retired sailor Harry Houghton, who already had contacts with russian intelligence in Poland in 1951. At the time, he worked in the British embassy as an encrypt and distinguished himself by his promiscuous lifestyle. He inactive needed money for booze and women. shortly he was contacted by russian intelligence officers, and Houghton agreed to sale information to the Russians. However, soon, precisely due to the dubious lifestyle, he was recalled to England and contacts were not developed.

The center warned Mołody that Houghton was greedy and could get lost by dragging Mołody behind him. However, Molody decided to risk: Houghton's lover, Ethel Gee, worked in photocopies at the military investigation center. Together, they removed secret papers from the center and transmitted them Lonsdale's liaisons, the Krogers' marriage.

They lived under that name in England. Morris and Leontina Cohen, Americans who for ideological reasons began working for russian intelligence. They were the main connectors. The most celebrated russian spy in the United States, Rudolf Abel, but after they started hunting Communists in the United States, they were transferred to London, where they became the liaisons of Molody. Konon was bringing in papers provided by his agents at the base, The Cohens copied everything to a microfilm, and the next day the papers returned to the base. The secrets of Her Majesty's fleet and any NATO projects began to flow into Moscow.

But Houghton was not very trustworthy, and Molody was constantly balancing on the borderline of exposure:

Before gathering me, Houghton had only 1 way: he would yet drink himself to death and fall to the bottom. What's more, for a fewer years erstwhile I kept in contact with him, I thought Houghton was changing for the better. If our meetings were to continue, I am certain that Houghton could be made human, as has happened many times in my practice and in my colleagues' practice.

The scout does not always work in white gloves, he is frequently simply forced to contact people who do not inspire his sympathy. Well, all profession has its drawbacks. In mine besides there are many.”

Yet, the failure of Molody-Lonsdale was not Houghton's fault, although it was not without his participation. In 1960, in the United States, he escaped PRL officer Michał Goleniewski. He was celebrated for later declared himself the successor to the Russian throneTsar Alex. According to his version, the Romanov household was not shot in 1918, but fled to Poland. Goleniewski demanded that he be given the alleged Romanov accounts: Tsar household money, deposited before the revolution in Western banks.

In the West, these statements were sceptically approached, but he was asked about his work at the Ministry of safety of the Polish People's Republic of Poland in large detail. In 1 of the conversations with CIA employees Goleniewski reported that any encrypted radio messages were passing through Poland from England. He besides recalled that in 1951 russian intelligence services had contacts in Warsaw with the English embassy encrypter. The CIA gave this information to the British. The suspicions fell on respective people who worked for British diplomacy in Poland at various times.

In late 1960, the British identified the mole – Harry Houghton. They shortly established his connections with Lonsdale and the Kroger couple, whom MI5 had long suspected of contact with Russian intelligence. MI5 planned to take Lonsdale under reflection and gradually uncover all of his contacts, but the British were in a hurry: information that Goleniewski had expelled Houghton could have reached the Russians, and the full network would have disappeared immediately.

On 7 January 1961, close London's Waterloo Lonsdale and Houghton Metro Station, they were arrested while handing over documents. On the same day, MI5 arrested Ethel Gee and the Kroger marriage. During the search, they found a radio transmitter.

Lonsdale admitted to buying secret papers from Houghton for further resale, however, denied that he was working for the KGB. He even tried to defend the Krogers, claiming to have utilized them without their knowledge. However, an English interview, which in those days was profoundly depressed, needed even any kind of rehabilitation. Let us remind that in 1954 it turned out that just under the nose of counterintelligence respective high-ranking MFA officials and military intelligence worked for the USSR for many years (so-called A from Cambridge). The whistleblowers were Americans.

So the British rushed to declare Lonsdale’s arrest as a immense success in the fight against russian intelligence. However, in court they failed to prove Krogers and Lonsdale's engagement in the russian interview. However, they were all convicted of spying on an unestablished country and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences.

Lonsdale received 25 years, the Krogers-Cohens — after 20, Ethel Gie and Houghton — after 15 years. another intelligence networks with which Gordon Lonsdale had connections or which he financed were never detected.

In prison, Lonsdale met George Blake, who besides worked for USSR intelligence. They met during walks. Blake later recalled how Lonsdale erstwhile said they would surely meet again in Red Square during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution (meaning in 1967).

Blake was sentenced to 42 years, Lonsdale to 25, and the spy's words sounded unconvincing. But that's what happened! They truly met on 7 November 1967 at the grandstand for honorary guests in Red Square. Lonsdale-Molody was listed in 1964 for English spy Greville WynneAnd the Blake Russians organized a prison break.

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Moloda horse in 1961.

In 1967, photographs of the movie "Dead Season" about the operation of russian intelligence to prevent the improvement of bacteriological weapons began. Konan Molody was the main consultant during the photos. In the closing inscriptions, it is listed as "Col K. T. Panfilov". Many celebrated actors were considered for the main function in this film, including Viacheslaw Tichonova (or Stirlitz). However, Molody insisted that this function be played by Donatas Banionis, who was somewhat akin to him.

In the fall of 1969, Cohen's matrimony was listed as 3 British arrested in the USSR for criminal offences. In 1995 and 1996, they were given posthumous titles of the Heroes of Russia. Harry Houghton and Ethel Gie served their sentences, and after being released, they were stars for any time, giving interviews on television.

The amazing life of a spy millionaire ended abruptly at the age of 48, six years after returning. On September 11, 1970, while walking in the forest, Konon Molody suffered a heart attack.