Meanwhile the blitzkrieg had started and soon, with the fall of France, we in Switzerland were virtually isolated. The debacle in France had another and more immediate effect on the lives of us all, for at last we came into touch with espionage proper. The network into which we were now to be incorporated was the permanent Red Army organisation and had been in existence for years. With headquarters in Switzerland, it operated throughout Western Europe. Its ramifications and sources made Sonia's own independent organisation appear a trifle futile. In fairness to the latter, one must add that it had never really been given a chance, since, just as it was about to go into production, the Russo-German pact came into force and the whole enterprise was stillborn. Not so the permanent organisation (of which Sonia had no knowledge till Moscow told her); throughout the period of the phony war it had been building up its resources and agents and was never in any doubt as to its ultimate target- Germany. I gathered, in the course of my long association with the network, that originally part of its effort had been directed against Great Britain but that the rapidly growing danger of Nazi Germany occasioned a switch of its efforts and priorities some years before the outbreak of war. Certainly all the time that I was associated with it there was never any sign that its ramifications extended into England. This of course does not mean that there was no organisation working against England. Many indications show that there was, even if for political reasons it was lying dormant. If an old and trusted Russian spy like Sonia was in ignorance of a parallel organisation run by the same masters in the same country it was unlikely that we would learn of other ramifications into other countries- unless we had to- and the contingency never arose.
SICILIAN MUSICAL BOX
It is now time to mention how we came into touch with the other "musical box" working in "Sicily" (to use the Russian cover names for the wireless sets working in Switzerland for the Red Army), and after that it will be necessary to give a picture of how the whole network was organised and what it achieved.
The reason the Russians were forced to put two independent organisations in touch with each other- a thing which every well-run espionage organisation dislikes intensely, as it naturally doubles the risk of compromise - was the unexpected success of the Germans in France, which led to a complete breakdown of communications.
The permanent Red Army net had in the past communicated its information by means of microphotographs which were taken by courier to Paris and thence forwarded to Moscow over a transmitter belonging to the subsidiary French network. The fall of Paris cut off this route, and the organisation was left in the air. As a result Sonia received orders to get into touch with "Albert," the head of the Red Army network in Switzerland, and place her transmitter at his disposal. Albert had in fact been told to construct a transmitter and train operators against just such a contingency- but had taken no action and was thus cut off from the "Centre" (as Moscow was known in the local jargon).
Albert was stationed in Geneva and Sonia went off to contact him and fix up communication arrangements. Albert was, in fact, Alexander Rado, a Hungarian cartographer and a Soviet agent of long standing. His position in Switzerland was impeccable; in this case Moscow had done their work well, as he was a partner in a Swiss firm of cartographers of great respectability and long standing. Very short and fat and speaking six languages fluently, he was himself an expert cartographer and used to prepare the war maps which appeared in all the Swiss papers. His wife, "Mary," was also "in the net" and in some ways the more dominant of the two in their partnership. Rado, as will be seen, lost his nerve in the end, but Mary was never affected, and I think that it was her influence that prevented Rado from breaking down earlier.
At first Sonia used to go to Geneva and collect Rado's enciphered traffic at an agreed rendezvous and then take it back for transmission from the chalet at Caux. This was time-wasting, and there was always danger that her frequent journeys might arouse suspicion in the minds of the Swiss police, who had probably not forgotten the Alex incident. Sonia's set was therefore moved to a chalet near Geneva until a better and more permanent home could be found for it.
At about the same time (August 1940) Moscow ordered me to move to Geneva and there train a wireless operator for Rado so that he could be independent of Sonia's set. This was the first time I met Rado. During the whole of my stay in Switzerland I never saw the inside of his house and he never entered my flat. We always met at agreed rendezvous at some "neutral" spot (i.e., a place where we were both comparatively unknown). Switzerland is not a large place, and after a time it became increasingly difficult to discover a new town to go to, which was not extremely inconvenient for one of us. Such are the minor burdens of a spy's life.
Rado had selected his recruit for training as an operator, and shortly after my arrival in Geneva I was put in touch with "Edward." Edward, or, to give him his real name, Edmond Hamel, was a member of the Nicole Party of Geneva. This party, headed by Leon Nicole, was plainly left-wing and contained a large number of "fellow travellers" but was not officially a Communist party. It did, however, provide a fruitful recruiting ground for Rado, and Leon Nicole himself acted as one of Rado's chief recruiting agents. It was through him that Hamel was brought into the fold.
Hamel had an excellent cover for his activities as an operator, for he ran and owned a wireless shop at 26 Rue Carouge in Geneva. He was also a radio mechanic and wireless enthusiast, so he had a flying start for his new career- or rather side line. His wife Olga (cover name "Maude") was also a member of the Nicole Party and was recruited at the same time. They both knew that they were working for the Russians but did not really believe it at first, basing their disbelief on the fact that the operator to whom they were sending was so inefficient that they could not believe he was in Moscow!
The Hamels' flat made an admirable hiding place for Sonia's set, and we moved it from the chalet and installed it above the shop. Sonia and I worked it for the first few months ourselves, she coming over from Caux for the purpose while I trained Hamel so that eventually he could take over.
Sonia had become increasingly restless and had repeatedly asked Moscow for permission to leave Switzerland and return to England. It was not until November, when Moscow could see that the hand-over had worked satisfactorily and that Sonia's group was now firmly in liaison with Rado's and communication with Moscow assured, that she received permission to leave. On December 20 Sonia left for London on her British papers. I do not think that since that time she has had any connection with a Russian spy net. She had been too disillusioned by the Russo-German pact to want to go on working and was only too thankful to sink back into respectable obscurity. Moscow on their side were obviously worried both by the Alex incident and the denunciation by Lisa Brockel and were, I think, equally thankful to let her go. They knew that as a loyal Party member she would not talk. There are no Kremlin objections to retirement from the service if circumstances permit and discretion is maintained. Vengeance is reserved for those who talk or who fall by the wayside- for people like Rado and me. Inefficiency and loquacity are the capital crimes.