Greville Wynne
Greville Wynne | |
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Born | Greville Maynard Wynne 19 March 1919 |
Died | 28 February 1990 South Kensington, London, UK | (aged 70)
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Nottingham |
Occupation |
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Criminal charge(s) | Espionage |
Criminal penalty | 8 years |
Criminal status | Released in exchange deal. |
Espionage activity | |
Country | ![]() |
Agency | Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) |
Service years | November 1960 – October 1962 |
Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919[1] – 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman who was recruited by MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He became known for acting as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from Soviet agent Oleg Penkovsky.
They were both arrested by the KGB in October 1962, coincidentally at a moment when some of the information their endeavours produced was instrumental to the West during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and convicted of espionage. Penkovsky was tried and executed the following year and Wynne sentenced to eight years at Lubyanka Russia prison. Struggling with deteriorating health, he was released in 1964 after the British arranged an exchange of Soviet spy Konon Molody.
Early life[]
Wynne was born in Shropshire to a Welsh family. He was initially an electrical engineer, trained at the University of Nottingham. Later he went into business, travelling frequently through Eastern Europe.
MI6[]
In November 1960, Wynne was recruited by MI6 and asked to make a sales trip to Moscow,[2] where he made contact with Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking GRU officer. Penkovsky had made earlier offers to spy for the West.[2] Wynne later became an intermediary and courier for Penkovsky, smuggling top-secret Soviet intelligence to London following his frequent trips to the USSR.[3]
Wynne and Penkovsky's espionage activities were eventually discovered by the KGB. Both men were arrested in October 1962, around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.[2] Wynne and Penkovsky pleaded guilty on 7 May 1963 and were sentenced four days later.[4][5] Wynne was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.[5][6]
Wynne was held at Lubyanka.[7] In April 1964, amid British concerns for his deteriorating health,[2] Wynne was released in exchange for the Soviet spy Konon Molody (also known as Gordon Lonsdale).[8]
Following his release, Wynne returned to his business career. In 1966, he appeared as himself on the 23 May episode of the American television series To Tell the Truth, receiving two of four possible votes.[9] Wynne struggled with depression and alcoholism in the aftermath of imprisonment.[8] Wynne died of throat cancer at Cromwell Hospital in London on 28 February 1990, aged 70.[10]
Questions over pre-Penkovsky, MI5 work[]
Later in life, Wynne wrote two books about his work for British intelligence: The Man From Moscow (1967) and The Man From Odessa (1981). In these books, Wynne claimed to have been recruited by MI5 as early as World War II, long before his work with Penkovsky.
However, historians question this account. The authors of The Spy Who Saved the World wrote, “He [Wynne] had no previous intelligence experience or training.”[2] Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960.[3][8]
Portrayal in popular culture[]
- Wynne was portrayed by David Calder in the 1985 BBC television serial Wynne and Penkovsky.[11]
- He was portrayed by Peter Lindford in the 2007 BBC Television docudrama Nuclear Secrets.[12]
- He is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the 2020 film The Courier.[11]
Further reading[]
- Duns, Jeremy (2014). Dead Drop: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation. London: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781849839297.
- Durie, William (2012). The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation/presence in Berlin. Berlin: Vergangenheitsverlag (de). ISBN 978-3-86408-068-5. OCLC 978161722.
- Schecter, Jerrold L; Deriabin, Peter S; Penkovskij, Oleg Vladimirovic (1992). The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War. New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6. OCLC 909016158.[13]
- Wynne, Greville (1967). The man from Moscow: the story of Wynne and Penkovsky. London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 923453949.
- (also published as: Contact on Gorky Street and Wynne and Penkovsky)
- Wynne, Greville (1981). The man from Odessa. London: Hale. ISBN 978-0-7091-9537-5. OCLC 7990042.
References[]
- ^ New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Schecter, Jerrold L; Deriabin, Peter S; Penkovskij, Oleg Vladimirovic (1992). The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6. OCLC 909016158.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (1989). The Storm Birds. Grove Press. ISBN 1-555-84122-8.
- ^ "Wynne confesses to charges of spying for West". The Guardian (36340). 8 May 1963. pp. 1, 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Frankland, Mark (12 May 1963). "Wynne sentenced to eight years". The Observer (8967). p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Penkovsky Papers". The Observer (9097). 7 November 1965. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Soviet blackmail over Mr. Brooke". The Guardian (37218) (City ed.). 7 March 1966. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c West, Nigel (1991). Seven Spies Who Changed the World. Martin Secker & Warburg Limited. ISBN 0-436-56603-6.
- ^ "To Tell the Truth". CBS. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ "Greville Wynne, Spy for Britain In the Soviet Bloc, Is Dead at 71", The New York Times, 1990-03-02, retrieved 2010-01-31
- ^ Jump up to: a b Fordy, Tom (August 16, 2021). "Gentleman, spy, fantasist? The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ^ Knox, Miranda (August 7, 2021). "Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film". Mirror. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War by Jerrold L. Schecter, Author, Peter S. Deriabin, With Scribner Book Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
External links[]
- Greville Wynne Picture
- BBC: Account of Wynne's trial
- "Soviet Propaganda Film 14 (53234)". PeriscopeFilm. Los Angeles: Periscope Film LLC via Internet Archive. 1963. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
Highlights: 00:09 Criminal case against Penkovski O.V. and Wynne G.M. concerning unlawful acts described by Articles 64, Article 65 of the USSR's RSFSR Criminal code. Article 64 is Treason, Article 65 is Espionage. This is the 30th of November 1962.
- 1919 births
- 1990 deaths
- Alumni of the University of Nottingham
- British expatriates in the Soviet Union
- British spies against the Soviet Union
- Deaths from cancer in England
- Deaths from esophageal cancer
- MI5 personnel
- Secret Intelligence Service personnel
- Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union
- People extradited from the Soviet Union