The National Archives releases new files from the Security Service
26 August
The 27th records release from the Security Service MI5 contains 171 new files, bringing the total number of Security Service records at The National Archives to almost 5,000. The records cover a range of subjects that span the Second World War and post-war eras.
Many of the files are available at DocumentsOnline. You can download them for free for one month.
Listen to Professor Christopher Andrew's podcast about the latest release.
Angel Alcazar de Velasco / Manuel Garcia Yllera Lago (KV2/3535- 3541) 1941-1978
These files deal with the activities of former bullfighter Alcazar de Velasco, the Press Attaché at the Spanish Embassy in London, and his secretary Yllera Lago. Velasco arrived in London in 1941 unable to speak a word of English. One of the original members of the Falange (Spanish Fascist Party) and close to the pro-German Foreign Minister Ramon Suner, Velasco's true role was to monitor his colleagues and facilitate espionage. He also gave orders to Pieravieja del Pozo, the controller of the supposed Welsh nationalist (and actual MI5 double agent), GW.
Files KV2/3535, KV2/3536, KV2/3537 and KV2/3539.
Antonia Hunt ALIAS Tonia Lyon-Smith (KV2/3552) 1942 -1950
Trapped in France by the German invasion in 1940 at the age of 15, Antonia Lyon-Smith was kept as an office girl by a Gestapo office in Paris, rather than being sent to a concentration camp or shot as was most people's fate. She had been arrested by the Gestapo because of a letter she had written on behalf of the resistance movement led by Claude Spaak. During her time at the office, a German officer named Karl Gagel apparently fell in love with her. The file includes a letter from Gagel attempting to make contact with Lyon-Smith after her return to Britain and reports of their interrogations.
File KV2/3552.
Cheddi and Janet Rosalie Jagan (KV2/3600 - 3638) 1947-1961
These 39 files deal with the early careers of Cheddi and Janet Jagan, founders of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) in pre-independence British Guiana, and both future presidents of the independent nation of Guyana. They came to the attention of the Security Service because of their links to the British Communist Party and their Marxist views. The files provide considerable detail of Cheddi Jagan's regular visits to London, including transcripts of telephone intercepts and copies of his correspondence.
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