FIRST PUBLISHED 2nd FEBRUARY 2020
R.V. HEMBLYS-SCALES WAS RUNNING THE LAPSTONE CONFERENCE SURVEILLANCE OPERATION AT THE TIME OF THE SOMERTON MAN'S DEMISE.
LAPSTONE CONFERENCE
Nov/Dec 1948
Over the years, much has been said/alluded to regarding the Lapstone Conference, it took place in the 1st week of December 1948 and conference attendees included a Russian delegation.
The Russian contingent, according to records, included 14 members including a Mr. Sherbakov and a Miss Bogotyreva. Whilst these names definitely showed up on the inbound Qantas passenger lists, they did not leave Australia, somehow they stayed behind. No records show their names in Australia after that date. The good news may be that, having read through the Scales MI5 report attached, there were photographs taken of the arrival and records were to be kept by CIS.
A Venona link
The file contains very interesting information on the case of the missing defence files, followers may recall that it was these files whose existence was discovered by the Americans in a Venona cable intercept. This, in turn, leads to a dramatic cooling of relations between the US, UK and Australia. The story unfolds within the first part of the pdf download shown later in this post.Hemblys-Scales Authority
Major points of interest
R.V HEMBLYS-SCALES was the MI5 operative charged with running the Lapstone Surveillance Operation. A massive task with huge obstacles placed in the way by Dr.Burton, Hembly-Scales found it hard to conceal his frustrations with him.
Amongst the many ither points of interest in the file, there are some standouts:
1. Delegates were accommodated at 2 locations in the Blue Mountains, The Lapstone Hotel and the Hydro Majestic. Two Russians stayed in Sydney on the 4th and 5th December. (Another hotel was used by the delegation at the end of the conference, The Mayfair, Sydney. No trace of the hotel currently) The date coinciding with the discovery of the body of the anti-communist Michael Goreloff, view post here..
2. Those delegates staying at the Hydro Majestic, were there at the same time as Stan Moran and other members of the Eureka Youth League (Young Communists)
3. Two other names of members of the Russian delegation were, Chiliakin (Singapore?) an interpreter and Erzin, 1st Secretary of the Russian Embassy in New Delhi. Both these men were known to intelligence services and it was feared that they may take part in activities other than the conference.
4. There was a state of conflict between CIS and other agencies in Australia which hindered the surveillance task.
5. The cooperation from External affairs was very limited overtly so, read the letter from Burton.
6. Thanks to Mr. Burton, much of the surveillance in the Blue Mountains was carried out by Diplomatic cadets. Apparently, no experienced resources were available.
7. At the time, there was, apparently, a total absence of controlled agents within the CPA.
8. Tapped calls were made to 3 numbers in Sydney:
6. Thanks to Mr. Burton, much of the surveillance in the Blue Mountains was carried out by Diplomatic cadets. Apparently, no experienced resources were available.
7. At the time, there was, apparently, a total absence of controlled agents within the CPA.
8. Tapped calls were made to 3 numbers in Sydney:
- B6951 Australian Pty Ltd 247 George Street, Sydney
- B3241, L.G. Ratcliffe, 2 Albert Street, Sydney
- FA 2141, Isaac Kalm, an Alien in Sydney
9. The name Magnussen turns up in the document, he was a CIS man.
Download the HEMBLYS-SCALES Report here
Implications for the SM case
In 'Assassination' posts made earlier, we discussed how the Somerton Man case bore all the hallmarks or MO of a typical Russian assassination. We spoke of the use of meticulous planning alongside the use of specially developed poisons to carry out their task. Poisons that were extremely difficult if not impossible to trace. These people deliberately set out to muddy the waters, to make it impossible to reach a conclusion on the cause of death and, in this case, the identity of the man was obscured.
All planned right down to the 'litter' filled suitcase, the various tickets and contents of his pockets but absolutely nothing that could possibly identify him. The plan worked and this blog was the first to uncover it not just as a theory but we have substantiated it with evidence of the MO and results of the Autopsy matching it almost exactly. We don't know the man's name and we don't know exactly who killed him although, now, we have some new possibles.
All planned right down to the 'litter' filled suitcase, the various tickets and contents of his pockets but absolutely nothing that could possibly identify him. The plan worked and this blog was the first to uncover it not just as a theory but we have substantiated it with evidence of the MO and results of the Autopsy matching it almost exactly. We don't know the man's name and we don't know exactly who killed him although, now, we have some new possibles.
The names of suspects now include Sherbakov and Erzin ( could be Zinin), both men who apparently arrived in Australia just ahead of SMs death. The question is, were they the team?
Our focus now is to search for the photographs that were apparently taken of the delegates on their arrival in Australia.
DOWNLOADS:
Download the HEMBLYS-SCALES Report here
See full MI5 report here...
This post was made possible by the great work done by PeteDavo and the ongoing valuable input from Clive Turner. Many thanks Pete and Clive!
More to follow...
Interesting post about Soviets and their intentions during the Lapstone Conference. It would seem a lot of murky business was going on at that time. Regarding telephone number: FA2141 see "The Sun" 1 Aug 1948 Page 30 and 17 Oct 1949 Page 17-Oriental Hotel, 223 Victoria St, Sydney-why tap the "Oriental"? As for telephone number B3241: See "Sydney Morning Herald" 23 Oct 1948 Page 27-Woolbuyers Office-was the tapper feeling 'fleeced'? Clive
ReplyDeletethat was the number for Isaac Kalm, he may have been staying there or just usin that number. According to Google Maps, the location was a house in Ashfield? Maybe there was another Victoria Street?
ReplyDeleteA Mr Alexander Sergeyevich Shcherbakov was Chief of the Soviet Press Bureau
ReplyDeletehttps://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1942v03/d535
I wonder if he was the missing delegate?
Disregard. He died in 1945
ReplyDeletehttps://www.geni.com/people/Colonel-general-Aleksandr-Shcherbakov/6000000065017234037
There is another Shcherbakov, Sergei Semyonovich Scherbakov (20 July 1918 – 27 January 1994) He served in a special unit in WW2 carrying out raids behind enemy lines. He was a recognised athlete, a boxer who won an Olympic medal in 1954. Sergei had a younger brother, Vyacheslav who had lost an arm in the war. Sergei would have been instantly recognisable and remembered I would have thought. So, Semyonovich would be a good starter if you were looking for someone who could carry out an attack. Yet another candidate would be, Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbakov (1909–1985), a seasoned politician, ideal if you are looking for someone to sit as a delegate? The spelling of the latter Shcherbakov is different to the Scherbakov mentioned in the docs.
ReplyDeleteBit of a turn up for the books? Here's a list of Scherbakovs/Shcherbakovs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shcherbakov