No More For The Road

For all the names that have been thrown around in the post war histories, none are held, unfairly, with more derision than that of Harold Wilson. Despite the smears thrown at him from certain quarters, he was not a Soviet mole or agent, there were many around him that, unknown to Wilson, and ironically, each other in the main, were indeed agents of the Soviet Union. Along side Wilson, it was a surprise that such dyed in the wool Socialists like Anthony Wedgewood Benn had not been turned, yet that did not stop him from being unofficially sent into exile during the "Years of Change", (or "The Purge Of Innocents" - depending on which side you fall).
It seems that the defection of a disgruntled Scientific Intelligence Officer from SIS to the CIA in 1970, was the nudge that set the dominos falling. In the early days, Sir Roger Hollis as head of MI5 and Sir Harold Philby as head of SIS, were able to minimise the damge done by the defection of Peter Wright, indeed, the two believed that they had not just dealt with the situation at home, but suitably blackened Wright's name with Philby's long time freind and CIA director James Angleton.
Angleton on the other hand, had begun to suspect that things were amiss as early as 1967 after their own sources in Moscow began to pick up chatter regarding double agents. Nothing regarding this came from the intelligence sources shared by the British which again raised suspicions. However, the CIA believed that the actions of British Intelligence in dealing with Chinese Communist intelligence rings, and their ruthless efficiency in dealing with Maoist insurgencies in South East Asia very successfully allayed a number of fears.
The CIA's sources in Moscow began to go quiet in early 1969 and seemed to be completely silenced by spring of 1970. American Intelligence were in the dark as to why until Wright's defection shed some light, and the 1972 defection of Major Anatoly Shaburidze shed a most unwelcome light on their fates.

Major Anatoly Shaburidze, originally a small village near Tiflis, Georgian SSR, had served in the NKVD during the Second World War as a Battlefield Commissar, following his regiment from Georgia, through the Caucases and Ukraine and finally into Austria for the end of the war. It was here, when advanced elements of his regiment met up with the American Army that the disenchantment with the Soviet system began. This was compounded shortly before his return to the Soviet Union. An "error in paperwork" saw him arrested and questioned at great length over blackmarket activities, while he was not "Extensively Interrogated", a common euphimism for torture, it was enough of a black mark on his record to stymie a so far, successful career within the NKVD, and later, the KGB. Instead, the Major was assigned to the records division, first in Vienna and later in Moscow. .

Ironically it was this posting which prevented Shaburidze from becoming involved in the Post Stalin power struggles, and also gave him access to some of the most valuable intelligence resources available.
As he languished in the records department, approaching retirement and having been passed over for promotion multiple times, he came to a decision that he would gain his revenge on the system that had oppressed him for so long, (the irony of his position would only strike him later on).
Shaburidze began to take copies of documents, and at the same time, began scheduling documents for destruction, claiming them damaged and that copies had already been made. Over the course of 18 months, until the end of 1971, the Major had ammassed over 3000 documents, a mixture of photographs of documents and originals detailing a range of topics from defenses in the Far East against Chinese attack, grain forecasts for the 1972/73 period and a series of documents regarding Soviet Intelligence activities abroad.

In the Spring of 1972, he recieved permission to visit Finland in order to watch Central Army Ice Hockey team play a freindly match against the Finnish National team in Helsinki. With the files hidden inside the chassis of his car, (one of the privilidges of his position), and travelling with 2 other KGB Officers, (who were unaware of his purpose), Anatoly Shaburidze set off on the 1000km drive to Helsinki. The story of the journey itself can be found in the book "Greatest Escapes Of All Time" By Edward Hamilton, (2015, Penguin), however, after arriving, and before the game itself, Shaburidze presented himself to the American Embassy and greated with increduality until the contents of the files were read. Within 24 hours, he found himself onboard a jet bound for Langley in Virginia and an extensive debreif.

There were many files of interest to Angleton and the CIA, however the main ones concerned "Johnson", "Hicks", "Homer", "Stanley", "Hobson" and "Williams".
The files indicated that they were Soviet agents planted into the highest levels of British foreign and domestic intelligence and also within the government itself. Within an hour, Angleton had drafted a note to President Nixon, advising of "unforseen, and disadvantageous intelligence situation", and that "immediate insulation of American interests" had begun.

What this entailed in the short term was the compartmentalising of all intelligence operations, and all material had to go through vetting before being shared with another nation. In particular, British intelligence noticed a change in the quantity of information, however the quality appeared to be good. At the other end, Moscow had given no indication that they were aware of the defection or the effects there of to their British Agents, expecting them to discover this on their behalf from the Americans.
The move to isolate the information left both London and Moscow in the dark for a differing period of time.
While the CIA began work on steps to clean up the mess that had occurred, no one quite foresaw what this plan would lead to.

From 'The Lion, The Bear and the Eagle - Intelligence Failures of The Cold War'. Clancy, Thomas, (Vauxhall Press, 2012)