ASIO FILES, A COLD WAR SPY EXPOSED

Her Code Name Was Sylvia...

Her story started in New Zealand, she was a young single Mother having lost her first husband in the war and following a failed second marriage, Kay Marshall had been approached by a Soviet diplomat and asked to obtain certain documents from her British High Commission workplace.

The Year was 1960 and rumours of spies abounded, little wonder that Kay dutifully reported the approach to the appropriate authorities.

But what, you may ask, could this possibly have to do with the Somerton Man cold case that occurred some 12 years earlier thousands of kilometers away in a beachside suburb of Adelaide in South Australia?

As you will read, everything because in this post you will read of the techniques used by both Australian and Soviet intelligence services to engage with the deadly cold war game.

The New Zealand Connection

The Soviet diplomat was, in fact, the third Secretary and Press Attache at the Soviet Embassy in Wellington by the name of Ervili Lustkij and Kay was employed at the passport office of the British High Commission.

Kay reported the situation and was contacted by New Zealand SIS. After repeated approaches by Ervili, it was decided to give Ervili some 'chicken feed' information of low value but enough to convince him that Kay was now a valuable asset.  Ervili, having returned to Russia had given her details to his replacement, Nikolai Shtykov who promptly increased the pressure and organised a series of clandestine meetings with her via a series of markings to be found on a telegraph pole near a tunnel.

The Taronga Park Meeting

To cut a long story short, in December 1960, Kay and her young son moved to Sydney in the hopes that she could break off the engagement with the Soviets. That wasn't the case and she, having been contacted by ASIO Kay agreed to a meeting with a man she was to know as 'John' at the Taronga Park Zoo using a predetermined identification phrase.

'John' was actually Ivan Skripov, First Secretary Soviet Embassy.

This was the start of a 2-year journey which was to see Kay act as a double agent carrying out simple dead letter box contents collection tasks and eventually being asked to undertake a trip to Adelaide to meet with and exchange parcels with an Adelaide based Soviet agent.

Left photograph of Kay Marshall meeting with Ivan Skripov 4th March 1961 at Taronga Park Zoo.

Dead Letterbox Pick Ups

Always under the watchful eyes of ASIO agents, Kay carried out three tasks for her Soviet spymaster John:

1. A Sydney Harbour Bridge dead letter box contained a cassette that Kay collected. ASIO had set up a surveillance point inside a workman's hut ahead of time but no one was observed approaching the letterbox. The cassette was examined and it was discovered that it had a device within it that would destroy the contents if it was incorrectly opened. ASIO agents felt it better to not attempt to retrieve the contents. Kay passed the cassette to John.

2. Another dead letterbox collection was arranged this time near Coogee. A cylinder was retrieved and again ASIO looked at opening it but found that, when it was illuminated with UV light, it started to vibrate. Rather than risk their agent by opening the cylinder they left it as was and Kay delivered the piece to John once again.

3. The third pick up took place on 4th October 1962 from Waverley Cemetery. This time the package was able to be opened and it contained a counterfeit Canadian passport in the name of Andrew Huha a Czech citizen plus another photograph. The package was resealed and given to John once again. ASIO was not able to trace an Andrew Huha.

It was not long before Kay was again contacted by John.

Interior of ASIO surveillance Van, 1960s model:

The Adelaide Meeting (Subject of Final Rendezvous Documentary)

In November 1962, kay met with John again at the Taronga Zoo. It was a lengthy meeting and John instructed Kay to go to Adelaide with a package and to exchange it with a man she would recognise by the description he gave her. The meeting was to take place on 29th December with an alternative date of 30th December at the same location in Norwood.

The package that Kay was given contained a high speed 'burst' transmitter capable of sending 270 words a minute, very much 'state of the art' in communications:

An interesting fact is that a similar device to the one above was recovered in the UK when the Krogers, aka Morris and Lorna Cohen, were arrested as part of the 'Gordon Lonsdale' Portland' Spy Ring just months earlier.

Kay had been advised that she should attend the location at the corner of Payneham Road and St Peters Street in Adelaide and to look for a man with horn-rimmed glasses and carrying a brief case. She waited but the man did not turn up, or so she thought.

It transpired as per the ABC documentary, he did indeed arrive posing as a wedding photographer. For some reason, he was very wary and it appears as though he may have been tipped off as you will see of you watch the video here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/final-rendezvous  (This link will only work in Australia, hopefully, the clip will be available on youtube soon. I will post the link when it appears there.)

After two failed attempts, the hoped-for meeting with the Adelaide contact did not take place. 

ASIO, rather than put their agent at risk, pulled the pin on the operation and 'Sylvia' was retired but with the grateful thanks of ASIO and the Government. The Soviet attempts to carry out acts of espionage had been derailed,  Skripov was declared Personna Non-Grata and promptly left the country.

A most interesting additional note, a week or so later, ASIO observed a car and a motorcycle both bearing South Australian licence plates arrive at the Soviet Embassy in Canberra. The couple in the car were recognised as members of the CPA, no trace of the man on the motorcycle.

I wonder whether their arrival had anything to do with the apparent suicide of 'Stanislaw' just two weeks after the failed meeting in Adelaide?

LESSONS LEARNED

What have we learned from the content of this post? We now have a far better idea of the absolute commitment of ASIO to uncover clandestine Soviet operations, it took two long years but they got there and no doubt picked up a lot of very useful intelligence on Soviet techniques used in their subversive operations.

Importantly we can also see the long game that the Soviets played when recruiting agents, they tested Kay 3 times before they entrusted her with a major operation and swap of valuable equipment. They were relentless in their pursuit of Kay and thought that they had successfully inducted her into the Communist ideology. they made a mistake in that and it cost them dearly.

You could not describe either side as being unprofessional, they were polished, well resourced, and determined.

I think they were that way in 1948, pre ASIO days as maybe but the people and their beliefs were just as strong then as they were in the 1960s.

I also think that, given the sudden death of Stanislaw, the Soviets were very capable of dispatching one of their own

There is a school of thought that in the Kay Marshall case the Soviets may have been deliberately using ASIO resources up and learning their techniques based on the fact that the valuable burst transmitter was already in Allied hands courtesy of the Krogers, maybe bit it is still nonetheless a valuable asset that they would not be able to use in Australia. After all, Adelaide was only a stone's throw from Salisbury and the Weapons Research Establishment and not that far from the rocket range at Woomera.

To end this post on a humorous note, two photographs that should raise a smile:

...and then there's this:

Signs were placed by 3 ASIO agents to help the locals around Minto in NSW identify the location of the CPAs secret school for communists :)