158 • D/P
Committee, known as theTwenty Committee, and he described
some of their achievements, particularly in the field of strategicde-
ception.D/P. Special Operations Executive’s designation for the Russian Sec-
tion, established in 1942 under Major A. D. Seddon. The first air drop
undertaken by D/P waswhisky, which ended when the heavily laden
Whitley bomber crashed on takeoff, killing one of theNKVDagents
destined for Germany and badly burning the other. A further attempt
was made to drop the survivor, a German Communist, in April 1924
after he recovered from his burns, but his Halifax, piloted by Wing
Commander Wally Farley, the commanding officer of 138 Squadron,
was brought down over Mannheim, killing all aboard.
DRAKE, REGINALD.Seconded from the North Staffordshire regi-
ment toMO5in 1914, Captain Reginald Drake was among the first
officers to joinVernon Kell. Reports written by him during World
War I suggest that some attempt was made to control the correspon-
dence of captured enemy agents, even after they had been arrested
and their execution had been announced publicly.
DRIBERG, TOM.Best known as the politician who was at one time
chairman of the Labour party, Driberg was later ennobled byHarold
Wilsonas Lord Bradwell. He was also a rampant homosexual and a
long-term MI5mole. Driberg’s involvement in espionage began
while he was still at school when he joined the Young Communist
League. This was the membership that was to be skillfully exploited
byMax Knight,MI5’s star case officer, who specialized in the re-
cruitment and planting of ideologically reliable agents into theCom-
munist Party of Great Britain(CPGB).
As the William Hickey columnist in theDaily Express, Driberg
was exceptionally well informed. He heard all the gossip and rumors
and was virtually a professional party guest. Among his clubs was
the Paternoster, a monthly dining group, of which his close friend
Dennis Wheatleywas chairman at the beginning of the war and
which met at the Cheshire Cheese.
Driberg’s career as one of Knight’s moles was terminated abruptly
in 1941 whenPercy Glading’s successor, Harry Pollitt, expelled