The Forgotten Spy (31 page)
Authors: Nick Barratt
The afternoon after TAR’s departure, Oldham set out from his hotel at 4.30 pm and arrived 20 minutes later at offices of Air Union – the French airline that would become Air France later in the year – at 52 Haymarket, trailed by Ottaway. Once inside, Oldham produced a ‘pink-coloured paper about the size of a railway timetable’, similar to the one found by TAR during his examination of Oldham’s possessions on the night of 26 August and spoke to a ‘dark and stoutish man’ of around 40 years of age. Once his business with the French airline was concluded, Oldham retired to a pub where he spent the rest of his evening, under Ottaway’s watchful eye. Suspicious that Oldham might be making plans to leave the country once more, Watson made further inquiries with Mr Handover the next morning, who
...had a reliable link at the Air Union and could easily get information there. I accordingly asked him to find out whether Oldham had booked a passage yesterday. He telephoned later to say that there was no indication of his having done so from the bookings for next week. I asked him about the pink book and he informed me that this was a book of vouchers which the Air Union issues. He said that I could probably get all the information I required from Mr Bamford, the English traffic manager of the Air Union, who he described as thoroughly reliable and promised to let him know that I would be calling on him.
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In the relatively early days of international flight and with low-tech surveillance, it was much easier for people like Oldham to slip away unnoticed, even with British passport control on high alert across Europe. Indeed, Harker
ensured that SIS was put in the loop at the earliest possible opportunity, sending the list of names and addresses obtained by TAR to Vivian, in case he could shed any light on their identity. Meanwhile, Oldham continued to remain under Ottaway’s observation.
Continuous watch has since been kept until the 30th instant and it was found that Oldham spent most of his time in the hotel, but for several hours every evening visited local public houses where he was seen conversing with the proprietors and loose women frequenters. Occasionally, he returned home very drunk.
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On 29 August a letter addressed to Oldham was intercepted, containing a £10 note (roughly £500 in today’s money); the envelope and accompanying blank sheet of paper were inspected for secret writing – none was found. A second such letter arrived on 5 September, also containing £10. Both had been sent from Paris. Given Oldham’s lack of credit with the various institutions at which he banked, this was an important clue about how he was able to remain solvent – he was clearly receiving help from abroad, confirming suspicions that he had accomplices. A conference was hastily arranged for 6 September, between Harker, his deputy Captain Butler and Watson, who had handled the intercepts.
It was decided that Superintendent Canning should be asked to make enquiries regarding the £10 note sent to Oldham. This I subsequently arranged with Superintendent Canning, who will have enquiries made through the American Express, which firm appears to have originally issued the note.
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Superintendent Albert Canning was in charge of Special Branch at Scotland Yard and was a key link in the investigation between the secret service and the police, whose cooperation would be required should the decision be taken to arrest Oldham. Canning’s investigation into the source of the notes was inconclusive, throwing up the names CH Serridge or Serrigi to identify the person
who had been paid the money on 1 August by the American Express against a traveller’s cheque. Neither name was traceable.
In view of a personal report from Mr Hunter [Herbert Hunter, the operative now in charge of surveillance] that Oldham had informed him last night (5 September1933) that he had received a telephone call that morning from Paris on important exchange business, it was decided that Captain Booth should be asked to trace the call, if possible, and also to enquire as to the feasibility of imposing a telephone check on Jules hotel for any telephone calls coming from abroad.
I subsequently spoke to Captain Booth over the telephone and he is making the necessary inquiries. For the present, Mr Hunter is keeping Oldham under periodic observation.
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Despite the level of surveillance in place, it seemed that a few basic errors had been made. For example, intercepts had been placed on incoming post and telegrams, but it had occurred to no-one that outgoing mail either from the hotel or the neighbouring area should be monitored. After a quick investigation into the practicalities, Watson reported back:
Result of enquiries made of GPO as to whether there is a posting box at Jules hotel, as had there been one there cleared regularly by a postman, a scrutiny of outgoing letters might have been of considerable assistance in this case, especially with a view to ascertaining whether Oldham sent a receipt of any sort after receiving the two £10 notes from Paris, which have arrived at intervals of exactly seven days.
The closest pillar-box to the hotel appears to be near St James’s Church, Jermyn Street and, in view of the fact that there is a collection at hourly, and sometimes at even half-hourly intervals, it seems evident that the amount of correspondence is very considerable and that any attempt to make a scrutiny of letters posted
there would be hopeless unless Oldham was seen to post a letter at any particular time, when, providing arrangements can be made with the post office, it might be possible for a special clearance to be made.
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More disheartening news was to follow.
Dear Watson
Re: your telephone enquiry today concerning telephone message to Jules hotel on the 5 September. Enquiries have been made and it has been established that no telephone message from Paris (in France) was received yesterday at the hotel.
Re: the question of a ‘check’ on this hotel for telephone calls made from Paris. There are six lines to this hotel (Whitehall 1471) and this means that six different operators will have to be employed at the same time (one on each of the lines) for each eight hours daily. Apart from the difficulty of relieving so many of the staff for the work it is pointed out that the conversation might possibly be in French and that there is no one at the Exchange who has the necessary qualifications to translate the ‘calls’.
JB Booth
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The inadequacies of the surveillance operation underline the difficulties that MI5 faced during this period – the rapid pace of technological change, and the sheer lack of manpower, had rendered impossible any attempts to throw a comprehensive communications blanket over Oldham in the hope of gaining an insight into his collaborators abroad. The fact that none of the potential phone operators could speak French simply compounded the problem.
Nevertheless, Watson persevered:
It was subsequently arranged that a note should be made of any continental calls going to, or coming from, Jules hotel. Captain Booth said that, if necessary, the post office could ask Paris where
the calls emanated from, but we decided against doing this in view of the risk of arousing suspicion.
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This was a critical mistake, as it meant that all that could be collated was a frequency log rather than any meaningful leads to pass to SIS operatives abroad, who would be better placed to pick up the line of inquiry. Quite what sort of suspicion might be aroused, and by whom, is not specified. The error was emphasised by the fact that the telephone service reported two incoming calls either from Paris or via Paris to Jules Hotel on 14 September at 2.51 pm and 3.26 pm. Booth was only able to report this to Watson two weeks afterwards on 28 September, far too late to act upon the information.
It seems that the call involved further requests by Oldham for money, because on 16 September a letter containing two £5 notes was sent from Interlaken to the Jules Hotel and was intercepted on its arrival on 19 September. As far as Oldham was concerned, the money arrived in the nick of time; the following day, a letter was sent from Credit Lyonnais stating that they had to refuse payment of his cheque for £3 to Hood, the landlord of the Chequers pub, because Oldham’s account was already overdrawn.
In a report dated 21 September, Hunter painted an increasingly pitiful picture of Oldham’s state of affairs as his money gradually ran out.
This man is still living at Jules hotel and there is no indication of him leaving.
Most of his time, when away from the hotel, he spends at the Chequers public house, Duke Street, and he is invariably there from 6.30 pm to the closing hour at 11.00 pm, and I have, on several occasions, been in his company.
While formerly, his drinks were usually spirits and the more expensive beers, he now consumes bitter and I am of the opinion he is getting short of cash. Last week, Hood, the landlord with whom he has got very friendly, cashed for him a cheque which was drawn on the Credit Lyonnais.
Last evening he was a good deal more rational than when I previously saw him. I understand that Hood gave him the hint to go slow on spirits.
Apart from breakfast, he now has no meals at Jules but gets snacks at the pub.
He appears to have no associates other than persons with whom he has become acquainted in the Chequers, among whom are certain female servants from adjoining flats, an artist named Shenaton (or similar name), whom I have never seen other than in a state of helpless intoxication, and various antique dealers in the street who use the house.
Oldham tells everyone he has to remain in Jules hotel for business reasons till about 5.00 pm and receives a number of telephone calls from the continent relating to ‘international currency’, regarding which he has to give quick decisions.
When in drink he becomes talkative. He has told me of journeys he made to the continent (when connected with the ‘communicating’ branch) with the late Earls Cozen and Grey, and, on one occasion, mentioned one Jesser-Davis, a King’s Messenger, with whom he apparently was frequently working.
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Earl Grey, as noted earlier, was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1905 and 1916 when Oldham was first transferred to the Foreign Office; Earl Curzon acted in a similar capacity after the war from 1919 until 1924. These are bold claims but not outside the bounds of possibility, given Oldham’s presence at League of Nations council meetings and associated conferences as part of the supporting team that accompanied the Foreign Secretary on such occasions.
Charles Edward Jesser-Davis is also quite interesting. Notes on him were transferred to a separate secret service file, PF 112 939, which intriguingly does not appear to have survived. Jesser-Davis enjoyed a distinguished military career, rising from lieutenant to acting captain in the Rifle Corps during the World War I, where he earned the 1914–15 Star service medal, and he was twice mentioned in despatches in 1917. On his return to civilian life,
Jesser-Davis was appointed as a temporary clerk in July 1920 before receiving his civil service certificate and subsequent appointment as King’s Foreign Service Messenger in November 1921. He made frequent visits around Europe, including many of the routes that Oldham travelled. He was still in post when Oldham was appointed staff officer in 1928, so the two men would have indeed known each other well.
He boasts of his friendship with Mr Harry Preston of Brighton, at whose hotel he frequently stayed with his wife. He often refers to his house in Kensington and explains his non-residence there to its being in the hands of the decorators and his wife being abroad with their son, who has just completed his education at Bonn university.
Each night, on leaving the Chequers, he visits Grays, the chemists, of Duke Street, where Jock (a local character), the assistant, has ready for him a concoction for sleeplessness. He usually leaves Jock a bottle of beer.
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Indeed, Hunter expressed real concerns for Oldham’s health and ended his report with the words, ‘In my opinion, Oldham is heading for a breakdown’.
Two days later, there was a sudden flurry of calls from the continent. According to Watson:
Mr Kelly (GPO) telephoned to say that a telephone message was received at Jules hotel from Paris at 2.57 pm on Saturday 23 September 1933, the conversation lasting for seven minutes. At 9.17 am today [25 September], someone at Jules hotel put through a call for Biarritz 580.
GPO suggest that possibly the incoming call on Saturday originated at Biarritz, being routed through Paris, and that today’s call was in answer to it.
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It is not known whether Oldham had anything to do with these calls. The following day, Watson was alerted to more activity.
At 10.08 am today, someone at Jules hotel telephoned to Paris, Interspecial 1420. That is the telephone number of the Banque Belge Pour l’Étranger, Rue de Bourse.
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Again, no connection could be made between the call and Oldham.
On Thursday 28 September, Oldham disappeared from surveillance. A report was filed by Hunter on 30 September, having made further attempts to re-establish contact with Oldham.
Last evening, I called at Chequers public house and learned that the above had not been there since Wednesday 27th inst. He had previously been in the house each evening. Attached cutting may explain his absence.
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The cutting was a clipped article taken from the
Star
the previous day:
A KENSINGTON MYSTERY
Unknown Man Dead in Gas-Filled Empty Kitchen
The Kensington police are trying to discover the identity of a man, aged about 35, who was found dead in a gas-filled kitchen at a house in Pembroke Gardens, Kensington.
Apart from a table, there was no furniture in the house, but in a cupboard were a number of suits of clothes, including evening dress.
The man was 5 feet 6 inches in height, well-built, clean-shaven and had dark brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a brown mixture suit and a brown striped shirt, with collar and tie to match. The shirt bore the initials ‘EHO’.
It is believed that the man formerly lived at the address.