SMILEY, DAVID• 499in Abyssinia. In January 1943 he was recruited intoSpecial Opera-
tions Executive(SOE) and briefed byBasil Davidsonfor a mission
toAlbaniacodenamedconsensus. The four-man team departed in
April and was dropped by parachute intoGreece, where they were
received by a group of guerrillas led by a British liaison officer. Soon
after their arrival, they trekked across the frontier into Albania and
made contact with the local Communist partisans. Smiley remained
in Albania until October, when he was withdrawn by boat from the
Adriatic coast to Bari. After a brief rest in Italy, he was flown to
Cairoand then, in January 1944, was brought to London to report in
person to Prime MinisterAnthony Eden.
Early the following month, Smiley returned to Cairo and prepared
for a second mission to Albania, flying from Bari with Julian
Amery. On this occasion they linked up with royalist supporters of
King Zog who specialized in ambushing German road convoys. After
many adventures, Smiley’s party was withdrawn by boat to Brindisi
in October 1944.
Early in 1945 SOE sent Smiley to the Far East, and in May he was
dropped into the northeast ofSiam. This mission was aborted after
just three weeks when a booby-trapped case exploded, covering Smi-
ley in flames. He was badly burned and was flown for medical treat-
ment to Calcutta. He had recovered by August, however, and went on
a second mission to Siam, accompanied by SOE’s regional com-
mander.
Smiley returned to London in November 1945 and was posted to
Warsaw as assistant military attache ́, but after just nine months he
was accused of espionage and declared persona non grata. He then
spent a year with theSecret Intelligence Service(SIS) in the Adri-
atic, attempting to stem the flow of illegal Jewish refugees toPales-
tinebefore returning to his regiment, the Royal Horse Guards, as
second in command.
In July 1949 Smiley was invited to rejoin SIS, this time to super-
vise the training of Albanian e ́migre ́s who were to be infiltrated back
into their country with the intention of subverting Enver Hoxha’s
hated Communist regime. A special school was established under
conditions of great secrecy in Malta, and several teams of agents
were put ashore from fishing boats manned by SIS personnel. Once
the last group had landed, Smiley moved to Greece, under the cover