◆ SpookStack

te oO] The tip to the British Gov- émment that could Nave Ted to the exposure of his spy ring, he says, came from a Soviet intelligence agent identified as, Konstantin Volkov. Assigned to Case Mr. Philby says he prevented more specific information from reaching London by getting himself assigned to the case “because it nearly put an end) to a promising career.” By the time he arrived in Istanbul,) three weeks after Mr. Volkov first made contact with the British, Inquiries at the Soviet Embassy were greeted with a terse “Volkov's in Moscow.” In a report to his superiors, Mr. Philby writes, he speculated that the Russians could have learned of Mr. Volkov's inten-| tions to defect by bugging his| room. Or Mr. Volkov might have betrayed himself throu; nervousness or excessive drink- ing, Mr. Philby added. "Another theory—that the Russians had been tipped off| about Volkov’s approach to the British—had no solid evidence| to. support it.” Mr. Philby, writes. “it was not worth in- cluding in mv report.” Another crisis that jeopard- ized his career came during Mr. Philby’s service in Washington. Shortly after his arrival in 1949, he was informed that a Brit-' ish-American investigation ‘of| Soviet intelligence activity had yielded te strong fugeestion’ at. information had_leal front THe BMtish Embasspeot. ing 1944 and 1945, the years MICMiaciéen had beer-nire Mr. Philby writes that his initial anxiety “was tempered by relief” after he found that’ either the British nor the Fed- ral Bureau of Investigation! suspected that a high diplomat was invoivec. “Instead,” he adds, “the in- vestigation had conecentrated on nondiplomatic employes at: the embassy, and particularly on those Jocally recruited, the sweepers, cleaners, bottle wash- ers and the rest. A charlady with a Latvian grandmother, for instance, would rate a 15- page report crowded with in- significant detail of herself, her! family and friends, her private, life and holiday habits. It was testimony to the enormous re- sources of the F.B.I. and to the pitiful extent to wihch those, Tesources were squandered. It was enough to convince me that urgent action would not be necessary, but that the case| wonld_ require min ing.” ‘| nation was no pretense.” Cc “However, during later te Ingr-witr Soviet jut. side Washington he was told that “it was essential to rescue Maclean before the net closed on him.” | Mr. Maclean was at the time head of ¢ the American partment. a ‘oreign Of- fice in London. Mr. Philby tells how he as- signed Mr. Burgess, who was also working at the British Em- bassy and living with the Phil-| bys, to warn Mr. Maclean in London. Mr. Burgess was to et himself arrested three times one day for drunken driving in Virginia, forcing Sir Oliver Franks, the British Ambassa- dor, to send him home because “it might, have looked a_pit 2 ad Mr. Burge: Orned vol tuntatily just before Mr. Mac- léan disappeared, 9 ¢==~" Confident that Mr. Maclean would soon be safe, Mr. Philby forestalled any possibility that he would be suspected by’ giv- ing the investigation “a nudge in the right direction.” To that end, he writes, “I wrote a mem- orandum to Head Office sug- pine that we might be wast- our time in exhaustive in- vestigations of the embassy’ menials.” But after reaching Lon-, don, Mr. Burgess apparently, anicked and joined Mr. Mac-| jean in his flight to the Soviet, Union, on May 25, 1951. Describing how he learned) about their escape from a col-' league at the embassy “at al horribly early hour’ the next morning, Mr. Philby writes: “He looked grey, ‘Kim,’ he said in a half-whisper, ‘the bird! has flown.’ I registered dawn- ing horror (I hope). ‘What bird? Not Maclean” ‘Yes,’ he an- swered, ‘but there’s worse than that. Guy Burgess has gone| with him.’ At that, my conster- In the wake of the Burgess- Maclean case, which caused al major outery in Parliament, Mr. Philby was recalled from Wash- ington and was asked to resign. The Government denied at the time that he had been involved! in the case and, according to the memoirs, five years later he resumed his role as a double agent whjle working for The Obse: ne as