LONDON, (Reuters) – A British writer brought diamonds from Russia into the UK disguised in a box of chocolate creams to help fund communist propaganda after World War One, secret files show.
Britain’s national security agency (MI5) found that poet Francis Meynell had been channelling Russian funds into Britain to support his left-wing Daily Herald newspaper where he was a director.
Meynell’s file is among 140 secret files released yesterday by Britain’s National Archives that detail stories of German intelligence officers, communists and soviet agents.
The MI5 collection, which includes files from Hitler’s deputy Martin Bormann and American actor Sam Wanamaker, covers subjects from the pre-war period, World War Two and the post war period.
“For any file, if the story is an interesting one, it is part of a bigger jigsaw,” said Professor Christopher Andrew, official historian of the Security Service.
Secret files on Wanamaker, who was responsible for the recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, show detailed material from his theatre projects which were viewed as vehicles for spreading left-wing ideas in Britain.
The files also reveal intimate details of British architect Graeme Shankland’s homosexual relationship after the MI5 intercepted his personal mail in 1956.
Shankland, a member of the British communist party since 1941, was recorded as living with his partner Peter Thomas.