than a hundred men and women were sent to their deaths. As SIS sta-
tion commander in Turkey, he betrayed British and American opera-
tions against the Soviet southern flank. In late 1949, he was posted to
Washington as SIS liaison with the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and he provided
Moscow with detailed reporting on U.S. intelligence.
Philby’s downfall came as he sought to protect Donald Maclean,
who had been identified as a Soviet agent by Venonaintercepts.
Philby instructed Guy Burgess, who was living with him in Wash-
ington, to return to London and warn Maclean of danger. When
Burgess, against Philby’s instructions, defected to Russia with
Maclean, it was clear to the CIA and to some of his colleagues in the
SIS that Philby was a mole. The British establishment decided, how-
ever, to protect Philby, and he was exonerated on the floor of the
House of Commons by then Foreign Minister Harold Macmillan.
Philby went into retirement in the late 1950s, taking a post in
Lebanon as a correspondent for the Observerand theEconomist, and
he was reemployed by the SIS. In 1963 the SIS received specific in-
formation identifying Philby as a Russian agent. An SIS officer and
close personal friend was sent to Lebanon to negotiate Philby’s return
to London. Philby, however, chose to betray the SIS one last time and
was exfiltrated by the KGB.
Philby’s last years in Moscow as a defectorwere not completely
happy. He was never accepted as a commissioned officer in the KGB,
and he never entered Lubyankauntil 14 years after his defection.
While he informed foreign journalists that he was a general in the
KGB, he never held a commissioned officer’s rank, and he was
known as “Agent Tom.” In retirement, he wrote his memoirs under
KGB supervision and began to drink heavily. He was apparently res-
cued by his fourth wife, who has written interesting memoirs of her
own, and Oleg Kalugin, KGB chief of foreign counterintelligence,
who believed that Philby had been shabbily treated. Philby died at
age 76 and was buried in Moscow with full military honors. The So-
viet Union issued a stamp with his picture on it.
Philby created havoc within Western intelligence agencies. Not only
did he betray scores of agents, as well as intelligence and tradecraft,
but he sowed distrust between American and British security institu-
tions. American security professionals never completely understoodPHILBY, KIM (1912–1988)• 19506-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 195