Greville Wynne, who spied on the Soviet Union for Britain in the cold war and who spent 18 months in a Moscow prison after being caught, died of throat cancer on Wednesday, hospital officials. An NSA employee-turned-Soviet Spy named Jack Dunlap revealed Penkovsky's treasonous activities to the KGB, despite the KGB having already known about the betrayal. Among the smuggled photographs and documents was evidence of what became the chilling Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962, with secret Soviet rocket sites on communist leader Fidel Castros island bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. The tense exchange of prisoners, which went ahead despite fears that the Soviets might give Wynne a slow-acting poison, came as a surprise to the travelling saleman-cum-spy. For his treason, Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad days after the trial ended (though Wynne would later claim he died of suicide). "Think about going back to life after that intense drama," Cooke says. Liam Daniel, Courtesy of Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. An industrial sales consultant who regularly traveled through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union representing British electrical and steel companies, Wynne was told it would be helpful if on his next trip, he could arrange for a meeting with a state committee in Moscow dedicated to developing opportunities with foreigners in science and technology, and report back on his conversations. Including spy phone software, fully functioning spy phones and more. In 1961 and 1962, at the height of the Cold War, disgruntled colonel Oleg Penkovsky (portrayed by Merab Ninidze) became the highest-ranking Soviet military official to spy for the United Kingdom up until that time. He got married again in 1970, to his secretary Herma van Buren, who also worked as an interpreter and spoke eight languages. Also known as. The pair first met in December 1960 and became close acquaintances, meeting up in London and Eastern Europe up until 1962. Another rumour alleged he was strapped to a stretcher and burned alive in a crematorium. By Greville Maynard Wynne was a British spy famous for his involvement with, and imprisonment as a result of, the espionage activities of Oleg Penkovsky. He just was an ordinary man who got thrust into this just extraordinary, life-altering situation that was going to define his existence forever, says OConnor. The President of the Court declared Greville Wynne, aged 44, would serve. KGB chief Vladimir Semichastny later revealed: They led Wynne along the corridor as Penkovsky was approaching in the opposite direction so that both could see that the other had been arrested. Important information Editorial Use Only. [5] His business extended into Eastern Bloc countries from 1955. It seems likely that Wynne did have an affair in the years prior to becoming a spy for MI6, though we found little evidence to verify this. In his memoirs A Man From Moscow published in 1967 and in a later book, The Man From Odessa, Wynne revealed further details of his spying activities. It isnt common knowledge as to whether Andrew and Greville retained a relationship following the divorce. He just couldnt tell the truth. Cookie Policy The operation was the most productive classic clandestine operation ever conducted by the CIA or MI6 against the Soviet target, as Schecter and Deriabin put it, and key to its success was the mustachioed courier with no prior intelligence experience. Sentenced toeight years in a labor camp, Wynne spent 18 months in Moscow'sLubyanka Prison, where he was subjected to beatings and torture. Welcome to the Spy Equipment UK homepage. Wynne literally goes from being a charming businessman heading towards retirement, says the actor, to someone secreting Minox film cartridges in his case as he tos-and-fros to Moscow., He was an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing. The Courier true story reveals that top KGB officials knew that Penkovsky was a double agent for more than a year, but they wanted to protect their source, a valuable mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). A stand-off between US President John F Kennedy and Russias Nikita Khrushchev ended with the Soviet president backing down at the 11th hour and removing the threatening missiles. Wynne returned to his life as a businessman. Greville Wynne's former father in law was, Greville Wynne's former mother in law was. This true story is a very interesting, skewed way to telling a ticking time-bomb, spy-thriller.. Alex Palmer When it came to writing the screenplay, OConnor laments that the true story of Wynnes experiences may never be known. Greville Wynne was born on March 19 1919. The Courier is also not the first time that Greville Wynnes story has attracted attention over the years. 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These events serve as the inspiration for The Courier, the new film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Wynne and Georgian actor Merab Ninidze as Penkovsky, out in theaters on March 19. The authors of The Spy Who Saved the World wrote, He [Wynne] had no previous intelligence experience or training.[6] Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960. But over time, intelligence experts and those involved in the case, though reluctant to share sensitive information, cast doubt on much of what Wynne laid out in his books. After months of negotiations, the British government was eventually able to arrange a trade of Wynne for the Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale, whod been arrested the year before and was serving a 25-year sentence in England. As the film alludes, life never returned to normal for Wynne, who battled depression and the psychological after-effects of his incarceration. If you continue to use this site, we will assume that you are happy with this. No question.. Wynne was a middle-class British businessman whose frequent travel to Eastern Europe attracted recruitment by MI-6 to serve as a liaison to high-ranking Soviet official Penkovsky. He did make a life for himself, but Greville Wynne did pay a big price for his service. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Greville Wynne Interview & Related Videos, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. I chatted to him not just about the film but his life and it was really interesting. Your Privacy Rights Among the materials Penkovsky provided to Wynne were four photocopies of plans for construction sites of missile-launching installations in Cuba. He had just finished a successful day pouring. In the movie, the title refers to Oleg Penkovsky's codename. While Angus Wright's character, MI6 agent Dickie Franks, was indeed a real person who worked for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, according to his 2008 obituary in The Independent, he had nothing to do with the recruitment of civilian Greville Wynne and the claim that he did is based on incorrect reports in the press. The MI6 agent suffered from depression after imprisonment and torture. The pair went on trial in Moscow in 1963 and Wynne was sentenced to eight years five in a labour camp and three in the citys chilling Lubyanka Prison after pleading guilty to espionage. Then after your service, when you havent even told your family or friends about this, youre told, thank you very much, indeed. They were convicted of espionage. Cold War Budapest in 1962 was not the most welcoming place for a British businessman, but Greville Wynne was feeling rather pleased with himself. Wynne died of throat cancer in 1990 at a London hospital. Wynne, despite claiming ignorance of what materials he was smuggling to the West, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. [9][10][11], Wynne was held at the Lubyanka. Here's what to know about Wynne's real history. In February 1990, it was announced Wynne had died of throat cancer at the age of 70 at the Cromwell Hospital, London. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from Soviet agent Oleg Penkovsky. Stock Image ID: 1494267a Shelia Wynne Wife Of British Spy Greville Wynne Here With Son Andrew Wynne 1964. The BBC produced a TV movie based on them. Penkovskys dynamism and enthusiasm, his wide-ranging and passionate denunciations of the Soviet system and its leaders illustrated with anecdotes, fascinated and captivated the American and British teams, write Schecter and Deriabin. The affair developed into the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Upon release from prison, Wynnes old life was in tattershed lost much of his business and the time spent in the Soviet prison seemed to have caused long-term damage. Greville Wynne's former in laws: Greville Wynne's former father in law was Gordon Beaton Greville Wynne's former mother in law was Elsie Beaton. Computer monitoring devices to help you and your loved ones stay protected online. The man sitting across the table from him revealed he worked for MI6 and that 41-year-old Wynnes frequent trips to Eastern Europe selling British electrical engineering parts to industrial companies would be the perfect cover for a job the secret service needed doing. While this was truly harrowing punishment, his Russian colleague Penkovsky paid the ultimate price with his life. Greville Wynne had a wife, Sheila, and a son, Andrew. Wynne married his second wife, Herma van Buren, in 1970. Benedict Cumberbatch lurks in the shadows in The Courier, Greville Wynne in 1964 after being freed from a Russian jail, Greville Wynne when he was arrested for espionage in Budapest in 1962, Greville Wynne pictured at Northolt Airport surrounded by press and police, after his release from a Russian jail, Spy equipment taken from Soviet scientific worker Oleg Penkovsky when the Russians caught him, The Courier tells the true story of espionage behind Russian lines. [7][13], Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 15:01, "From Interrogation in the Lubyanka to rose-growing in Majorca", "Wynne confesses to charges of spying for West", "Greville Wynne, Spy for Britain In the Soviet Bloc, Is Dead at 71", "Gentleman, spy, fantasist? No question. Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox. The committee was dedicated to developing opportunities for foreigners in science and technology. 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