She added, ''In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country.''. Prosecution was considered inappropriate due to ill health and advanced years. ''In the war the Russians were on our side, and it was unfair to them that they shouldn't be able to develop their weaponry.''. While his identity still remains unknown to the public, Norwood confessed later: "I am not going to deny itI take complete responsibility and blame.". "'I Gave Bomb Secrets to Russia So It Could Stand Up to the West.'" . Filming of Red Joan in Cambridge City Centre (Image: Keith Jones) Red Joan is a film based, although highly romanticised, on the true story of spy Melita Norwood who stole . The KGB awarded her the prestigious military honour the Order of the Red Banner. Asked if she had ever been frightened of being caught, she said, ''I suppose so, but I can't remember pondering it.''. Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. As a highly trusted employee, sensitive documents crossed her desk each day. She was recruited as a Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein in 1934, at the age of just 22. The KGBs man on the inside was in fact Melita Norwood, a grey-haired, tea-drinking woman in her eighties who enjoyed tending the roses at her semi-detached home in suburban South East London. Where in Bexleyheath did Melita Norwood live? Jennie Rooneys book Red Joan is inspired by the story she found but isnt based on the true story, there are quite a few differences between the two. Anita Lynn Ferguson, 75. Joan and Max go to Australia, but return to Britain at some point. 1999, 22 April Mr Straw is told that the Attorney General had advised against prosecution as it would be "inappropriate". only confirmed she was a spy in the 1990s. Anita Ferguson, the daughter of Melita Norwood, "has spoken of her distress at discovering the double life led by her mother throughout her childhood." Rose, David. The trick is to be able to do this efficiently enough, and respond quickly enough, to take on the game's content that you would like to experience while . London - Melita Norwood, a British woman who was unmasked as a Soviet spy a decade ago, had died at age 93, said her family on Tuesday. "Melita Norwood's relatives, friends and neighbours told [on 11 September 1999] of their shock on learning . She began her spying career in the 1930s while working as a secretary for the Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London. "When she became politically active in the 1930s, Russia was seen by many people as the only nation capable of defeating the Nazis. Her espionage activities weren't publicly revealed until 1999, when former archivist Vasili Mitrokhin - who. She wasnt like the Cambridge Five, who courted disaster. The how is known, the what is mostly conjecture, which makes Judi Dench's film a controversial adaptation - it opts for a more romantic take on the tale that has been called everything from "preposterous" to "inaccurate". She says she was working for the ideology not the financial reward. Mrs. Norwood had been obliged to confront the press gathered at her gate by disclosures of her past in The Times of London. Sir Winston Churchills wife started sending packages to support the Russians. It was directed by Trevor Nunn, [10] and produced by David Parfitt, with a screenplay by Lindsay Shapero. He too was a member of the Communist Party. She connects with her former Communist lover Leo who encourages her to hand over secrets to the Russians. "I do not consider myself a spy," she told reporters. Her motivations weren't as pure as the film suggests either. At first she's unsure, but then we see her give in because she wants an even playing field between Russian and the USA. But to the neighbours in Garden Avenue, Bexleyheath, a pleasant street of semis and discreet net curtains, Lette was viewed as a charming old lady who just happened to be a bit eccentric and very openly Left-wing. Melita Norwood. And she had her gardening: flowers at the front, vegetables at the back. Joan also comes up with the idea of enriching uranium in the film, which is part of the process of making atomic energy. Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, said in 1999 that superiors had become suspicious of Norwood in the 1940s. "She thought of Stalin in those early days as a sort of Clement Attlee figure. With fish fingers on the side. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Having dropped out of the University of Southampton after just one year, Norwood joined a spy ring trying to steal details of a naval gun from Woolwich in 1937. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Apart from passing on nuclear secrets, Norwood recruited at least one person to be a KGB spy. Year old great-grandmother Melita Norwood stands outside her home in Bexleyheath, where she reads a statement to the press concerning her involment. The film portrays Norwood as a doddering old woman that when unmasked struggles to understand what she did wrong and what is happening to her. from the crowd in her street. Pada tahun 2013, penulis Jennie Rooney telah menerbitkan sebuah novel berjudul Red Joan, berdasarkan kisah kehidupan Norwood. We cannot guarantee accuracy of data published on this website. She's a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic," she told The Daily Mail at the time. Right up to her death in 2005, Mrs Norwood never wavered from the conviction that what she did was right. five years later, saying only, ''Somebody said that my work might be an interesting source of material.'' The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. "I did what I did, not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service.". FOR decades the secret services were left chasing shadows in the hunt for agent Hola Russias most effective spy in Britain. MELITA Norwood was a grey-haired, tea-drinking woman in her eighties who had been a dutiful wife and mother, but she was also Russia's most effective spy - going undetected for nearly 40 years. Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. Melita Norwood, now called Joan Stanley, is played by two actors. Her lofty motivations are a far cry from Norwood's deliberate choices. Despite her odd hobby no one really thought much of it but if they had perhaps her past wouldn't have come as so much of a shock as reporters clambered for a shot of her on her drive. The Great-Grandmother Comes In From the Cold, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/13/world/the-great-grandmother-comes-in-from-the-cold.html. Her name has been changed and the story sexed up, but there is no doubt it is based on unlikely operative Norwood. The government decided against prosecuting her. The elderly woman exposed as the longest-serving Soviet spy in Britain was a fresh-faced 25-year-old when her political idealism first drove her into spying for the Soviet Union. At the height of the war in 1943, she took time off to have a child, Anita. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. anita ferguson daughter of melita norwood About; FAQ; Contacts; Location; Rose, David. In 2013, author Jennie Rooney published a novel, Red Joan, loosely based on Norwoods life. All she was doing was trying to help people it wasnt selfish.. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Melita Norwood, pictured here at age 87 in 1999, standing outside her home in Bexleyheath, where she reads a statement to the press concerning her involvement in passing over atomic secrets to the KGB. Creative Editorial Spy/Daughter Anita Ferguson Anita Ferguson, a school laboratory technician from Wombourne, Staffordshire, speaks to the media following the news that her 87-year-old mother Melita Norwood spied for the Russians for 40 years. When her activities became publicly known in 1999, Norwood had said: "I did what I did not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service. Her KGB file gave her a glowing review calling her "committed, reliable and disciplined agent, striving to be of the utmost assistance. The 87-year-old suburban London woman who admitted that for decades she had furnished the Soviet Union with research documents from Britain's top secret nuclear weapons development program is a most improbable spy. She thought he was the best. Norwood died in 2005, but people have remained fascinated with her story. He kept sensitive documents in both, sometimes holding evening meetings at home at which Lette was expected to be on hand. The reality is that Norwood was devoted to her husband, who she nursed through liver cancer up to his death in 1986. Red Joan is certainly a watchable curiosity, but as a piece of political discourse, it seems strangely ham-fisted and bland. Melitapassed away. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. In 1999, an 87-year-old British woman held a press conference in front of her home to announce that for nearly four decades, shed worked as a spy for the Soviet Union. Still, she refuses to discuss the actual passing over of documents and refuses to say who wooed her to the KGB. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Her bookbinder father was a Latvian immigrant and Left-wing activist whose slogan was Down with everything thats up, and up with everything thats down. Author David Burke, who wrote a book about Melita's extraordinary life, was told by Norwood herself that it was she that approached them not the other way around. Rose, David. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. It was a mere two years later that Norwood was spying for the Soviet NKVD - she'd been recruited by Rothstein himself. Who is Melitta Norwood? I certainly didnt.. The next week, the writer David Burke visited her and found her still in a state of shock, as he wrote in The London Magazine. anita ferguson daughter of melita norwood About; FAQ; Contacts; Location [10] [9] It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The daughter of grandmother Melita Norwood, unmasked as one of Britain's biggest traitors, last night told how the former spy kept details of her treachery secret from her to the very last moment. Your email address will not be published. One was in his office and the other at his London home. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. This traitor in our midst had handed over nuclear bomb-related documents so highly classified that most of the Cabinet did not know they existed. The media were all gathered to hear what she had to say after revelations in the newspaper that day - Norwood had been a Soviet spy for nearly 40 years. If you want to learn more about this . She told the newspaper that ''in the same circumstances, I know that I would do the same thing again.''. <br> <br>'Red Joan': the film vs the facts. Melita Norwood was a die-hard communist and unapologetic about her spying. But while Norwood's intentions are still up for debate, what she did is not. These documents revealed Norwoods espionage, but British officials kept it secret because they didnt think there was enough evidence to prosecute. In 1949 they detonated their first atomic bomb four years earlier than expected. Something went wrong, please try again later. The revelations came as a total surprise to Norwood's daughter, Anita Ferguson, who didnt find out her mother was a spy until she read about it in the paper. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Cu MIX za . Newly released files from the Mitrokhin archive make clear how vital a KGB source Norwood . In 2000, Joan is arrested and charged with espionage. A writer, journalism and follower of Lenin - who formed the Communist Party in Great Britain - they were acquainted. 2023 Getty Images. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Unions longest-serving British spy. ''I thought, 'Who is this nutter?' She was perusing the archives of 20th-century intelligence under the guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler. The spy who came in from the Co-op." Melita Norwood, the last of the atomic spies, hadfinally been run to ground, but at 87 she was deemed too old to prosecute. When she was unmasked publicly as Hola seven years later, no action was taken against her because by then she was 87, and Jack Straw, then Labour Home Secretary, decided that at her age, nothing was to be gained from sending her to prison. She'd leave them somewhere to be picked up or handed them over at a meet-up. Date of death. "But I didnt immediately think of pinching it. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? what happened to melita norwood. She retired in 1972, and remained in her Bexleyheath home until her death in 2005. Monday, 13 September, 1999, 17:35 GMT 18:35 UK, The BBC's Jon Silverman: "At the outbreak of war she was more highly valued than Kim Philby", Nigel West, Intelligence Expert: "Such individuals should be pursued", Journalist David Rose: "The people that she lives among have not a clue as to her past", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. <br> <br>1. ''I thought they should somehow be adequately defended because everyone was against them, against this experiment, and they had been through such hardship from the Germans,'' she told her television interviewer. Despite being investigated by them TEN times, and not hiding her socialist sympathies, Norwood secured a job that gave her access to Britains nuclear secrets. I remember her talking to me once about Karl Marx, he says. She says he disapproved of her spying, but "never tried to stop me". In 2000, a parliamentary committee that oversaw intelligence agencies criticised the government for failing to prosecute Norwood. "Granny spy" Melita Norwood has died at the age of 93, her daughter has confirmed. Norwoods excuse for helping dictator Joseph Stalin in his pursuit of the atomic bomb at the end of World War Two was that she feared the US, which already had nukes, would end Russias socialist dream. Well, she was partly aided by the boys club atmosphere of MI5, the British Security Service. Her husband Harry, died in 1986. "And she had her gardening: flowers at the front, vegetables at the back. It came as a massive shock to her daughter and to Dr Burke, who already knew Norwood. The Soviet Union's bomb coincided with the onset of The Cold War, and threatened humankind with extinction. 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