Eye Spy - May 2018

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018 53

German diplomats and their families at Greenbrier Union spy chief Allan Pinkerton (left) with Abraham Lincoln

As strange as it may seem, some intelligence

analysts point to events in the American Civil

War (1775–83), when both sides set about

establishing rules and protocols which would

address this ‘imbalance’. Senior officers

would negotiate with their opposite number

and often name the person they wished to

exchange. In 1862, Union General John Dix

and Confederate General Daniel H. Hill agreed

to assign a ‘value’ to each soldier according to

rank. A table was created in which one private

was worth another private; corporals and

sergeants - two privates; lieutenants - three

privates and so forth. A general was worth 60

privates. And it worked for both sides as they

had fewer PoWs to watch and the benefit of

returning soldiers to the frontlines. Today of

course, such a ‘manoeuvre’ would be viewed

Fog envelopes the famous Glienicke Bridge, Berlin

• scene of several Cold War spy exchanges

KGB agent

Rudolf Ivanovich

as ‘politically incorrect’ - valuing the life of one

individual greater than the other.

And to summarise, it is also of vital impor-

tance to recognise that many exchanges are

conducted in utter secrecy and without the

prying eyes of the media.

reville Wynne was a well-travelled

businessman recruited by MI5 just

Gbefore the outbreak of WWII as an

THE TRAVELLING MAN

agent. By 1959, he was

in the ‘employ’ of MI6

and helped KGB officer

Major Kuznov to defect.

His next task was far

more important and

dangerous. In the early

1960s he was used as a

contact man in the

operation to secure the

services of Oleg Greville Wynne

And there they would remain for around six

months, until an exchange agreement

overseen by the International Red Cross was

put in place. In Germany, US diplomats were

moved through neutral countries until they

reached New York. Japan, of course, as an

Axis nation was also involved.

Intelligence historians recognise that even in

the dark days of WWII, a number of key

intelligence people were ‘inadvertently’

exchanged in this remarkable chapter. “Eyes

and ears that both sides could have used were

now gone,” commented one observer. Today,

a far simpler term is applied to those diplo-

mats who the host nation no longer wants and

suspects are spies - ‘persona non grata’. They

are asked to depar t within days.

IMBALANCE

Spy swaps have evolved since then, and

nations are fully aware of the importance of

securing the return of operatives, though in

some cases there

is could be an

‘imbalance’. A

good example

being the exchange

of CIA flyer Francis

Gary Powers in

return for the

important KGB spy

‘Rudolf Ivanovich

Abel’ (Colonel

Vilyam Fisher).