Arthur Wynn
Encyclopedia
Arthur Henry Ashford Wynn (22 January 1910 - 24 September 2001), was a British civil servant, social research
er, and recruiter of Soviet spies.
Recruited by Edith Tudor-Hart
in 1936, Wynn was the well known Soviet spy "Agent Scott" of the KGB
. Wynn created the less prominent Oxford spy ring, the University of Oxford
counterpart to the infamous Cambridge Five
.
Wynn was the son of a professor of medicine. Educated at Oundle School
, he played rugby union
. Wynn read natural sciences and mathematics at Trinity College
, University of Cambridge
.
Wynn was in Germany when Adolf Hitler
became Chancellor. He resultantly married German communist Lieschen Ostrowski, to enable her to escape Nazi Germany.
He returned to England, dissolved his marriage, and moved to Oxford
for further study. While at the University of Oxford he joined the Clarendon Club, and met and married Peggy Moxon, a student and a fellow member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
. They married in 1938, and had four children (three sons and a daughter).
Intending to specialise in trade union
in partnership with Sir Stafford Cripps QC
, Wynn studied law at Lincoln's Inn
, and was called to the bar in 1939. During World War II, Wynn worked as a technical specialist on secondment at A.C. Cossor
, working on projects that include IFF radar and advanced navigation
al aids for RAF Bomber Command
.
Moved by a series of appalling postwar coal mining
disasters, he switched his attention to mining
safety
. After the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1948, Wynn became director of mining safety research at the Ministry of Fuel and Power. He was the National Coal Board
's scientific member from 1955–65, and then a senior civil servant in Tony Benn
's Ministry of Technology until his retirement in 1971.
Post retirement, with his wife he become a prominent medical researcher and social commentator, particularly in the area of nutrition
. Their papers were widely published and read, and used by many politicians to advance their own political agenda. Through their publications, the Wynns struck up a friendship with Tory MP Peter Bottomley
. Tory leadership hopeful Keith Joseph
based a 1975 speech on their published article for the Child Poverty Action Group
examining the issue of poverty and single parenthood. Joseph's interpretation of the article lost him the support of Margaret Thatcher
, who decided to run for the leadership herself.
Arthur Wynn died in London in 2001, .
by writer Nigel West and the former KGB officer Oleg Tsarev
, the NKVD
London station reported a significant intelligence coup, stating that Edith Tudor-Hart
had recruited "a second Sohnchen," the code name
used for Kim Philby
. The memo further stated that "in all probabilities, they offer even greater possibilities than the first."
During Stalinist purges, the KGB's London recruiting station was briefly closed, but "Agent Scott" appears to have maintained contact, and by 1941 he was recruiting additional sources. The basis of the Oxford spy ring he ran are suspected to have included a former Labour MP, a former director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
and an Oxford don.
The real name of "Agent Scott" first came to light when the KGB permitted access to its files in 1992. The double life of Wynn was exposed in The Weekly Standard
magazine by historians John Earl Haynes
, Harvey Klehr
and former KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev
.
The KGB refused to divulge "Agent Scott"'s name in 1992, prompting media speculation of a series of moles. When the KGB confirmed "Agent Scott's" existence in 1996, the mole was incorrectly described as an Old Etonian, a Scotsman and a member of the Foreign Office: Wynn was none of these. Those accused of being "Agent Scott" therefore included former diplomat Sir David Scott Fox
and Sir Peter Wilson
, the former chairman of Sotheby's
.
From information uncovered by Vassiliev, a memo
dated July 1941 from Pavel Fitin
, the KGB's war time head of counter-intelligence
, to KGB chief Vsevolod Merkulov, named "Agent Scott" as Wynn. It also identified "Scott's" recruiters as London based NKVD controller Theodore Maly
, and Austrian-born spy Edith Tudor-Hart, who also recruited Kim Philby
:
This team Wynn recruited became the basis for the Oxford spy ring. Wynn also identified and offered to recruit students from the University of Cambridge and the University of London
, but his handlers urged him to be more "selective. There should be no mass recruitment."
Social research
Social research refers to research conducted by social scientists. Social research methods may be divided into two broad categories:* Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on statistical analysis of many cases to create valid and reliable...
er, and recruiter of Soviet spies.
Recruited by Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor Hart , an Austrian-British photographer, communist-sympathiser and spy for the Soviet Union. Some of her work is in the National Gallery in London.-Early life and education:...
in 1936, Wynn was the well known Soviet spy "Agent Scott" of the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. Wynn created the less prominent Oxford spy ring, the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
counterpart to the infamous Cambridge Five
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies, recruited in part by Russian talent spotter Arnold Deutsch in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and at least into the early 1950s...
.
Wynn was the son of a professor of medicine. Educated at Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, he played rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. Wynn read natural sciences and mathematics at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Wynn was in Germany when Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
became Chancellor. He resultantly married German communist Lieschen Ostrowski, to enable her to escape Nazi Germany.
He returned to England, dissolved his marriage, and moved to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
for further study. While at the University of Oxford he joined the Clarendon Club, and met and married Peggy Moxon, a student and a fellow member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. They married in 1938, and had four children (three sons and a daughter).
Intending to specialise in trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
in partnership with Sir Stafford Cripps QC
Stafford Cripps
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
, Wynn studied law at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, and was called to the bar in 1939. During World War II, Wynn worked as a technical specialist on secondment at A.C. Cossor
A.C. Cossor
A.C. Cossor Ltd. was a British electronics company founded in 1859. The company's products included valves, radios, televisions and military electronics.-Early history:...
, working on projects that include IFF radar and advanced navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
al aids for RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
.
Moved by a series of appalling postwar coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
disasters, he switched his attention to mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
. After the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1948, Wynn became director of mining safety research at the Ministry of Fuel and Power. He was the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
's scientific member from 1955–65, and then a senior civil servant in Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
's Ministry of Technology until his retirement in 1971.
Post retirement, with his wife he become a prominent medical researcher and social commentator, particularly in the area of nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. Their papers were widely published and read, and used by many politicians to advance their own political agenda. Through their publications, the Wynns struck up a friendship with Tory MP Peter Bottomley
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...
. Tory leadership hopeful Keith Joseph
Keith Joseph
Keith St John Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH, PC , was a British barrister and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under three Prime Ministers , and is widely regarded to have been the "power behind the throne" in the creation of what came to be known as...
based a 1975 speech on their published article for the Child Poverty Action Group
Child Poverty Action Group
Child Poverty Action Group is a UK charity that works to alleviate poverty and social exclusion.The stated aims of the CPAG are:CPAG programs include:* Research and publish the latest facts and figures of family and child poverty in the UK...
examining the issue of poverty and single parenthood. Joseph's interpretation of the article lost him the support of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, who decided to run for the leadership herself.
Arthur Wynn died in London in 2001, .
Agent Scott
The name Agent Scott first appeared in Soviet files in October 1936. In the 1988 book The Crown JewelsThe Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels is a box set by Queen which comprises their first eight studio albums; Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz and The Game; in sleeves replicating the original vinyl packaging...
by writer Nigel West and the former KGB officer Oleg Tsarev
Oleg Tsarev
Oleg Anatolevich Tsarev is a Dnipropetrovsk businessman and People's Deputy of Ukraine for the Party of Regions.-Family life:...
, the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
London station reported a significant intelligence coup, stating that Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor Hart , an Austrian-British photographer, communist-sympathiser and spy for the Soviet Union. Some of her work is in the National Gallery in London.-Early life and education:...
had recruited "a second Sohnchen," the code name
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
used for Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
. The memo further stated that "in all probabilities, they offer even greater possibilities than the first."
During Stalinist purges, the KGB's London recruiting station was briefly closed, but "Agent Scott" appears to have maintained contact, and by 1941 he was recruiting additional sources. The basis of the Oxford spy ring he ran are suspected to have included a former Labour MP, a former director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
and an Oxford don.
The real name of "Agent Scott" first came to light when the KGB permitted access to its files in 1992. The double life of Wynn was exposed in The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
magazine by historians John Earl Haynes
John Earl Haynes
John Earl Haynes is an American historian who is a specialist in 20th century political history in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress...
, Harvey Klehr
Harvey Klehr
Harvey E. Klehr is a professor of politics and history at Emory University; he is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America ....
and former KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev
Alexander Vassiliev
Alexander Vassiliev is a Russian journalist, writer, and espionage historian living in London. A former officer in the Soviet Committee for State Security , Vassiliev is known for his two books based upon KGB archival documents: Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, co-authored with John...
.
The KGB refused to divulge "Agent Scott"'s name in 1992, prompting media speculation of a series of moles. When the KGB confirmed "Agent Scott's" existence in 1996, the mole was incorrectly described as an Old Etonian, a Scotsman and a member of the Foreign Office: Wynn was none of these. Those accused of being "Agent Scott" therefore included former diplomat Sir David Scott Fox
David Scott Fox
Sir David Scott Fox, KCMG was a member of the Diplomatic Service and writer.Sir David Scott Fox was born in 1910 and educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, before entering the Diplomatic Service.-Career:...
and Sir Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson may refer to: * Peter Wilson , Scottish-born American footballer in the 1890s and early 1900s* Pete Wilson , American baseball pitcher...
, the former chairman of Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
.
From information uncovered by Vassiliev, a memo
Memo
Memo may refer to:* Most commonly Memorandum.* Bench memorandum, law* Memorandum Recordings - record company* Mêmo* MEMO - specialization in electrical engineering that studies Microwaves, Electromagnetism and Optoelectronic...
dated July 1941 from Pavel Fitin
Pavel Fitin
Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Fitin was a Soviet intelligence officer and was the director of Soviet intelligence during World War II, identified in the Venona cables under the code name "Viktor."- Education :Fitin graduated from a program in agricultural...
, the KGB's war time head of counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
, to KGB chief Vsevolod Merkulov, named "Agent Scott" as Wynn. It also identified "Scott's" recruiters as London based NKVD controller Theodore Maly
Theodore Maly
Theodore Maly was an undercover Soviet intelligence officer who recruited and controlled spies in the 1930s. He lived illegally in the countries where he worked and was one of Russia’s most effective illegal recruiters and controllers...
, and Austrian-born spy Edith Tudor-Hart, who also recruited Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
:
Spying
Recruited to the NKVD's British team, Wynn started sending reports on Oxford members of the Communist Party. These were related to recruitment of spies, of which he listed 25, for which later screening - which Wynn himself was subjected to - five were considered highly suitable. These included an individual code-named "Bunny", who has never been identified.This team Wynn recruited became the basis for the Oxford spy ring. Wynn also identified and offered to recruit students from the University of Cambridge and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, but his handlers urged him to be more "selective. There should be no mass recruitment."