Maxwell Knight
Maxwell Knight was an MI5 agent-runner.
Maxwell Knight was born in 1900. He became a Naval Cadet in 1915. In the final year of the First WEorld War, he served as a midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve. He subsequently worked as a teacher and freelance journalist for several years.[1]
He became involved with George Makgill's private Industrial Intelligence Bureau (IIB), joining the British Fascisti (BF) as an agent for Makgill in 1924.[1] He became the BF's deputy chief of staff and director of intelligence.[2] In 1925, he married the director of the BF women's units, G.E.A. Poole in 1925.[2]
In the mid-1920s, Knight successfully infiltrated six fascists into the Communist Party on behalf of the IIB.[2]
Christopher Andrew characterises Knight's views at the time as closer to those of the Fascisti than he would later acknowledge, but nevertheless 'those of diehard conservatives rather than the radical right'.[2] He nevertheless had extremely right-wing friends, including Nesta Webster, who recommended him to Desmond Morton of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).[3]
SIS
Morton recruited Knight and his network for the SIS in December 1929, to investigate links between British communist organisations and the Comintern.[4] SIS did not inform domestic intelligence agencies of the recruitment but Morton was told by J.F.C. Carter of Special Branch that Knight had been put under observation.[5]
Section M
In October 1931, Knight transferred to MI5 which took over responsibility for domestic agent-running. Knight's network known as 'M Section', was initially based in Sloane Street, later at Dolphin Square.[6] It targeted the Communist Party of Great Britain and from 1933, the British Union of Fascists (BUF).[6]
In 1937, Knight married his second wife, Lois Coplestone.[6]
CPGB
In 1931, Knight recruited Olga Gray who became a long-term penetration agent in the [[CPGB.[7] According to Christopher Andrew, Knight's network was the probable source of information on CPGB activity received in 1933, which MI5 used in its campaign for legislation against subversion in the armed forces.[8]
When Olga Gray was asked by the CPGB to act as a courier to India in 1934, Knight devised a cover story for her because the party had neglected to do so.[7] By 1937, Gray's work was bringing her into contact with Soviet spies including figures who would later by identified as Teodor Maly and Arnold Deutsch.[9] In 1938, Gray evidence in the trial of a spy ring at Woolwich Arsenal, after which she moved to Canada.[10]
According to Christopher Andrew, evidence from this case, and from one of Knight's agents in the CPGB led to suspicions about Melita Norwood which were not followed up.[10]
BUF
Knight's early reports on the BUF portrayed the organisation as patriotic, but in a report on 13 April 1934, he admitted that the organisation's finances had suddenly returned to health after a visit to Italy by Oswald Moseley.[11] In September 1934, Knight reported that William Joyce was 'a rabid anti-Catholic' and 'fanatical anti-Semite' but that his 'basic patriotism' was unlikely to be shaken.[12]
The Right Club
During World War Two, Knight placed three female agents, including his secretary Joan Miller in the pro-Nazi Right Club.[13]
Embassies
Knight also ran women agents employed by diplomats suspected of Nazi sympathies during World War Two.[13]
Tradecraft
On the use of woman agents, Knight wrote that 'What is required is a clever woman who can use her personal attractions wisely'.[13]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.123.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.124.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.125.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.128.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.129.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.132.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.179.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.165.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.180.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.182.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.191.
- ↑ Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.194.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm, The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, p.221.
