Focus on
Olga Gray and the Woolwich Arsenal Spy Ring
In 1938, thanks to years of work by a remarkable female agent, MI5 ensured a package of British defence plans stayed secret.
Piece
Selected Historical Papers from the GW case. GW was a Welsh retired Police Inspector...
Catalogue reference: KV 2/468
What’s it about?
This record is about the Selected Historical Papers from the GW case. GW was a Welsh retired Police Inspector... dating from 1939 Oct 11-1942 Aug 05 in the series The Security Service: Personal (PF Series) Files. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
Is it available online?
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- KV 2/468
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1939 Oct 11-1942 Aug 05
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Description (What the record is about)
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Selected Historical Papers from the GW case. GW was a Welsh retired Police Inspector recruited by the Security Service to answer an Abwehr requirement placed on SNOW to find Welsh sabotage agents in advance of the expected German Invasion of the UK during 1940. Ostensibly an ardent Welsh Nationalist, GW visited Belgium with SNOW in October 1939 for training. He was first briefed to write to addresses in Belgium, but after the German occupation provided material for SNOW to take to Lisbon. In October 1940 the Abwehr in Madrid established contact with GW independently of SNOW via a Spanish journalist visitor to the U.K. Contact continued, surviving SNOW's alleged ''confession'' to the Abwehr in Lisbon in February, 1941, until the arrest and internment in the U.K. of his Spanish intermediary in February 1942
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Note (Additional information about the record)
- Physical description: with report of a visit with SNOW to Antwerp: letters to the Belgians, first contacts with the Spaniards including the delivery of money, summary by MASTERMAN of double agent operations, plan MINOTAUR
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- PF 66318 VOL 1
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C10967526/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
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- Select an option and follow instructions
Series information
KV 2
The Security Service: Personal (PF Series) Files
See the series level description for more information about this record.
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
6,152 records
Within the department: KV
Records of the Security Service
4,773 records
Within the series: KV 2
The Security Service: Personal (PF Series) Files
You are currently looking at the piece: KV 2/468
Selected Historical Papers from the GW case. GW was a Welsh retired Police Inspector...
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