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Released MI5 papers shed light on Wooster dinner Around 1960, while I was at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, my wife and I had a memorable dining out experience. I described the event in a Report sent to the Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Reginald Maudling, in January 1971:- A Dr. Wooster of the Mineralogy Department, on a pretext so flimsy that it was obvious there was an ulterior motive, insisted that he and his wife must entertain my wife and I to dinner at his home. During dinner the Woosters disclosed that they were members of the Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society. Over Yugoslav wine, about which he was very enthusiastic, Dr. Wooster proudly informed us that his daughter was at the ballet school in Leningrad. At one point he made the, to me, extraordinary statement that Reds in the University were unlikely to get promotion - there was a strong prejudice against them. Other points of a left-wing political nature were made by our hosts. On the other hand they also mentioned they ran a business (Crystal Structures Limited) supplying scientific models for educational purposes as a sideline to their University posts. For the context of this disquieting event see the Cambridge Gown section of this website. RELEASED MI5 PAPERS Among papers recently released by MI5 under the Freedom of Information Act there was a set concerning Alan Nunn May, the British scientist who gave atomic secrets to the USSR. Summaries of the papers, which were listed on the National Archives website among the releases in March 2007, include the following, which cover the period after Nunn May's release from prison:- KV 2/2224 and 2225 (1954): Nunn May was at last placed in work in Wooster´s Crystal Structures Ltd laboratory in Cambridge, where he and Hilde had settled. As he settled down, it was suggested that the phone and correspondence checks could be lifted, as the risk was diminished and the watches had not produced useful intelligence. Minute 1031 proposes recruiting the Nunn May´s "daily" to cover any loss of intelligence as to his future movements. The phone check was suspended in the latter file, which also includes (serial 1081) an interview in September 1954 between Ralph Nunn May and Skardon. KV 2/2563 (1954-1956): covers the refusal of Nunn May´s application for a passport, and the consequences of the end of the employment subsidy that had been granted to Wooster´s. The Director-General´s note of a meeting with the Foreign Secretary on the passport issue is at serial 1208. A report compiled by Nunn May detailing his work at Wooster´s, January 1954 to July 1955, is at serial 1156a. KV 2/2564 (1956): covers efforts to secure Nunn May continued employment at Wooster´s after the ending of the employment subsidy that the firm had been receiving. This included the possibility of ensuring that government contracts were placed with Wooster´s. It is clear from the MI5 papers that the Woosters were hosts to Nunn May about four years before they entertained my wife and myself and that the Woosters were well known to MI5. The one point I cited in their favour, namely that they ran a business, turned out to be wrong - essentially their enterprise was dependent on a Government subsidy of one sort or another to keep Nunn May under control. This MI5 information gives credence to the account of the dinner but gives rise to a number of possible reasons for it. Was it for example an MI5 or an Establishment vetting? Alternatively, was it an attempt to recruit me to the USSR cause? Perhaps most importantly, was it part of the 'winkling out' process? For background to the 1971 Report see Political Developments 1970 E. |
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