SOVIET BREACH FEARED AT BRITISH CODE CENTRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100520003-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: January 28, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100520003-2
.by David Leigh -
Some of the group of so far
unnamed Soviet sympathisers
tin- British intelligence may
;have penetrated the SIGINT
;code-breaking network at Chel.
tenham, and its war time. pre-
decessor at Bletchley
British ,and Canadian .secur:
ity men suspected this.- and
MI5., ; interviews = were still
:taking place at the end of last
year among people who worked
=iri-rode-breaking shortly. after
the last war:
It Ryas noel' seen disclosed
that the head of Canada's. anti-
'Soviet 'depatrtment of the secur.
who, ..-?. was
iinte'rragated in 1972 and szbse-
i gtientlyz.took - a medical dis-
ant. I nglishmari
charge, was
who spent the eight years niter
the war working for SIGINT;
an" organisation ghost 'cxis=
;tents was unknown to the. Bi?i.
fish .'.public' until the late
1970s. " ,?_..
Although. the.man concerned,
Leslie Be nmett, was' exonerated
after a four-day interrogation,
and it is not suggested that he
was a. Soviet. spy,. this is the
first !eyidencrr of security fears
abo~~t_-Bletchley' and; Chelten-
ham, arnd.the first time details
have emerged of the career of
SIGINT operatives. Two
journalist " 1ere?,trile'd oil. spy-
ing cha'rges. iru .the ,Aubrey,
Berry; Campbell-..,case in .1978
after interviewing a former sol-
dier' about .,his: work: (or
SIGINT in the 1960s. ?..,:r, ; r
Mr Bennett the sub'ec~ ' iie
claims a . a in cttoaa ised
n6-ti=c7 a cri ?in him as a
'S-ovie agen? turned:. e
, 1. s =160'.. een e. ,vrc im
a _ ecu a ton in Nor t mner-
ca that he "was connetim with
` ur ass- a2 eaan an '-'t
die was -`co eague 'Kim
Philbyi : i'?'Turkey '!W', 1947-48.?
when the -' third'man ": wast'ris-
ing fist in1-b6- Mf6: hicfarchy..
THE LONDON GUARDIAN
28 January 1980
and is taking a libel action,
"a,ainst the Can-adian author of
the novel, S-Portrait of a Spy.'
T h c transcripts of '.pri?
.vat e~.. Preliminary. ...,hearings
'in ~ Toronto are novv available,
`and his career emerges from
then. 3 ..
From a family ; of'' Welsh
Labour : supporters, with - a
Communist` uncle; Tr' Bennett
was in war-time Sigials Intelli-
genct, the Ultra -codebre:ikers.
Irr. -.1946, :.when ;. the.. Enigma
code-breakers at Bletchley Park
were being reorganised , _ at
Cheltenham. he, stayed with
the.- '.GoverndnentCommuni-
cations IIQ
?;;Iiis.'flrst 'assi nnierrt;,as"the
secret' UIft3SA? tact was signed
with the?'US National -Security
Agency to conduct; ivorldnicie
radio;.anti-Soviet '.'eavesdrop-;~
ping, was' fa 'Turkey: in- lii47. -
Kim Philby was : posted there
as head o f:'the :'Istanbul 1116
.station;; the. nialn?.base :. for i
southern espionage against the
USSR. Ostensibly"rccruilang -
agents and infiltrators Philby
occasionally: meet Ben nett , who
was much his junior.
100 Later he tiv.-i posted to a
listening station an; llong+ Kong
for two .years,` to` tire' Cyprus.
base for a? visit,' and tot Austra-
lia. . Mr Bennett -maintained
that ,Ihe..British .':Official : Ssec
nets; Avt .forced -him-to:.keep
secret the":details-of his -ciphey.
work. ?tt4tich he will; only des-
cribe as 'special-intelligence":'.
..,,In 1954 h e went : to i Canada
to join the'tin. y_ anti Soviet sec
lion , of the, Itoyal 'l Canadian
.Ilfounted Police; security sec=;
vice, which ;was _ rapidly'
xpaniding. .. Soviet'1
penetration':; increased.'... The1
:security servlce'grew=from 75
- to 600 men by..1972, veryanueh
-under the tutela#P cf the Bri--
+Mr ' I~ettnett': threw' severa&
side}ights on `British :M15 .ape
rations during his testimony,
explaining - that - In 1972 he_
liaised once a month with the
British-FBI linkman An Wash-
ington, who he named as, at
that time,=Tar 'Michael McCall:
.In western security circles,. he.
`said,' Britain was regarded.`as.
second only 'to the US as a,
KGB -target, . =.
;There had been spy;scandals_
>already.: in Canada.-A- post-war.
defectoi;. in Ottawa, Ivor".. Gou-
zenko,?led to the gaoling of the:
British ; atomic- scientist:"Nunn,
"May,'and eventually to highly
secret:;: studies--=:: known
Operation Featherbed :of.
; ;homosexuals':: and : s"security ;
,risks', in;"Canadian' govern 21
anent;';.work in .which hlr;l
Bennett : was ? involved.
In:'April ?:1972.' by ,no"
1mated,. from.. the >" antiSoviet-
desk,'and. aged 52,'Mr;.Bennett
=was,taken,to' an .O.ftawa.`.'safe:.
:house;'. told he. was, suspected l
of, beink.a;Seviet agent,`end.in-
terrogated for four days about'
his` early- family--history"and:
eight Canadian counter;
espionage "misfires "-under his,
charge,;, Heprotested his innocence;!
-which:, was. eventually - estab:
lished.~'The'-:ther. -Solicitor4
General, bar' Francis" Fox, ? said:.
later; fin Parliament that. there
was, no evidence against. him;
But he intinediately -decided";to.
leave. the security" service,'r1th'.
a Yncdical: dischrage' ~', .i
Despite,.Mr.:.Benrett's 3nno'
cence; .there arc.. 'still ;Brttishr:
fearsi,'"that .;Cheltenham:-''and'!
Bietthfe1 `were ;r" penetrated..'i'
Last'.Noven:ber,.as the Blunt,
affair broke, er.,postmil
war code-breakers were` Inter:;
.vietvcrd .':anew:"by' hIIS ,
according .to: GCHQ .'sources.?
:Asked-about their associates at,
the.'time.:they were'-`told =that:
an
d' se'enth men","an:
the?'Philhyi~"group; were.:'stilh
being pursued-_` '-- ~:a S` ??:? t
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100520003-2