MARTIN, ARTHUR• 333It was Martin thatSir Percy Sillitoeselected to accompany him
to Washington in June 1951 when he tried to explain to the U.S. au-
thorities how Burgess and Maclean had managed to elude MI5. Later
Martin was to participate in the cross-examination ofKim Philby,
who was sacked from theSecret Intelligence Service(SIS) because
of his suspected involvement with the two traitors. Soon after this
episode, Martin was sent to Singapore to report on conflicts that had
emerged within the Malayan security structure during theMalaya
Emergency, and he remained there for two years as director of intel-
ligence in Kuala Lumpur.
Upon his return to London in January 1961 as D1, Martin concen-
trated oncounterespionagecases, but it was not until the defection
ofAnatoli Golitsynin December 1961 that MI5 and theCentral
Intelligence Agencysuddenly acquired an unprecedentedKGB
source. Golitsyn defected in Helsinki and was promptly flown to the
United States, where Martin debriefed him. In Washington Martin
was met by the local SIS head of station,Stephen de Mowbray, who
introduced him to the defector. Not only did Golitsyn provide suffi-
cient new clues to Martin for him to conclude some old cases, but he
also promised a new insight into the KGB’s operations in England
and, in particular, details of Soviet penetration of the British security
apparatus. Once Martin and de Mowbray had listened to Golitsyn,
they were convinced that he represented a genuine opportunity to
combat the KGB. Both reported to London that Golitsyn’s allega-
tions of hostile penetration should be taken seriously and thereafter
both men became involved in the lengthymolehunts that purged
their respective services of suspected Soviet spies. Both were to play
vital roles in thefluencyCommittee investigations ofSir Roger
Hollisand other possible moles, including Donald Prater, but their
careers were not advanced by their new preoccupation. Martin was
transferred from MI5 to SIS, where he was appointed to the largely
administrative function of head ofRegistry, while de Mowbray was
transferred to South America.
After his retirement from SIS, Martin went to the House of Com-
mons as a clerk, but he retained his interest in discovering whether
the Security Service had been penetrated by the KGB. At the height
of the Hollis affair in July 1984, soon after Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher had cleared him of treachery andPeter Wrighthad de-