57 years later, a Petrov twist

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This was published 12 years ago

57 years later, a Petrov twist

By Robert Wainwright

A BRITISH flight steward has emerged as an unlikely key player in the 1954 defection of Evdokia Petrov, the wife of Russian spy Vladimir Petrov.

The account of the conversation between the BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) steward, Robert Muir, and Mrs Petrov as she sat crying in the bathroom of a flight taking her to Darwin from Sydney guarded by KGB agents is among thousands of files released this morning by the British National Archives.

An angry Sydney crowd tries to block the forced return of Evdokia Petrov.

An angry Sydney crowd tries to block the forced return of Evdokia Petrov.

They reveal the British perspective on the Petrov Affair, from surveillance of the podgy Russian embassy official during his drunken, womanising jaunts to Sydney in 1953 to his defection in April 1954.

The papers make clear the fears of then prime minister Robert Menzies about Labor leader Herbert ''Doc'' Evatt.

The Petrovs in 1954 and Joyce Bull at the 50th anniversary of the affair.

The Petrovs in 1954 and Joyce Bull at the 50th anniversary of the affair.

On April 12, 1954, two days before Menzies was due to announce the defection, MI5 was told by its local operative: ''After personal study of available documents and P[etrov]'s commentary, he [Menzies] considers situation revealed by P's disclosure about Evatt so serious that everything must be done in national as distinct from political party interest to prevent Evatt becoming prime minister.

''[ASIO head Charles] Spry strongly supports Prime Minister … Spry states now that in event of Evatt becoming prime minister, UK Government should seriously consider withholding important secrets.''

The Cold War defection of Petrov was a breakthrough for Australian security services. The Petrov Affair saw the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) grant political asylum to the 47-year-old Russian in return for his disclosure of Soviet intelligence.

At the time, he was the most senior communist officer - a colonel in the KGB - to defect to the West since WWII and his shift led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Australia and Russia.

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Petrov seemed to show little consideration for his wife, also a spy. Her defection came about in very public circumstances that saw images beamed around the world of her being dragged onto a Moscow-bound flight in Sydney by two burly Russians.

Australia's government intervened and Mrs Petrov was granted political asylum in Darwin where the flight refuelled.

The newly released files detail British anxiety about the need for haste in securing Vladimir Petrov's defection, worries about his psychological state, the political implications on an Australian federal election and the decision to ''doctrinate'' Australian officials, including royal commissioners hearing evidence about a spy ring, to ensure that secret Soviet cipher codes were not made public.

But it all could have gone horribly wrong if not for the flight crew on the Lockheed Constellation, which took more than seven hours to fly to Darwin on April 19, 1954.

Mrs Petrov had been frogmarched aboard by the grim, armed agents, losing a shoe as angry crowds gathered to try to free her. Pilot Captain John Davys detailed the sequence of events that followed in a confidential report.

Aware of the controversy, he instructed his crew to ''help'' Mrs Petrov if she requested it.

When Mrs Petrov went to the bathroom, stewardess Joyce Bull approached and struck up a conversation. Mrs Petrov had been under the impression that the plane was going to Melbourne, where she could speak to her husband, who had defected two weeks earlier.

When told by Ms Bull it was bound for Darwin, she replied ''then there is nothing I can do'', and returned to her seat.

Later, as the plane was above central Australia, Mrs Petrov again went to the bathroom, signalling to Mr Muir that she wanted to talk.

''He followed and asked if she wanted to say anything,'' Captain Dayvs wrote. ''She replied: 'I have not slept for a fortnight. I have been guarded and questioned all the time. I want to see my husband. I don't know what to do.'

''[Steward Muir] said he could give her any help she required and she should try and decide if possible before she left Darwin. Mrs Petrov said: 'But what can I do? I am frightened. The two couriers are armed and I can do nothing.'

''The steward told her the guards could be looked after. She also intimated that she didn't know what to believe.

''The steward tried to reassure her … and also intimated that she only had to say what she wished to do and it could be arranged. After some more talk, Mrs Petrov said: 'I would like to stay. I leave it to you.' She then returned to her seat.''

Captain Davys told ASIO officials via radio of Mrs Petrov's statement and that the guards were armed.

He concluded: ''I considered that Steward R. D. Muir is to be commended as it was largely due to his tact in handling the situation that induced Mrs Petrov to make her stand.''

The files show British interest in Petrov was aroused soon after he arrived in Canberra in 1951, fuelled by his freedom to travel and frequent trips to Sydney.

By early 1953 they had compiled a character analysis. ''It was learnt that Petrov's background was that of a seaman, that Petrov, when in Sydney, appeared to behave in a manner of a seaman on shore leave in his search for wine, women and song.''

British diplomats concocted a plan, Operation Cafe, to ''accelerate defection''. It was to coincide with Petrov's return to Moscow in July 1953. One telegram commented: ''Plan is to slip letter in his pocket at Customs suggesting he seeks asylum and giving rendezvous.''

But it would be another 10 months before he defected.

Concern in London was again raised about ASIO's handling of Petrov after his defection. The deputy director of MI5, Graham Mitchell, warned: ''Hope ASIO will do utmost to ensure intelligence benefits [are] not sacrificed for speed. Our experience [with] defectors proves the need for patience.

''If forced to speak too fast under strain of recently taking plunge of defection, real risk of flow drying up, mental unbalance or at worst suicide. Can hardly urge above too strongly.''

Britain's high commission was concerned that the newly formed ASIO wasn't up to the job of extracting information.

After defecting, Petrov pined for his dog, an Alsatian, which had been left in Canberra.

When the dog was retrieved, ''Petrov has gone wild with excitement and insisted on taking it into the bedroom. Mme Petrova has been virtually ignored in the process of jubilation and feelings have been seriously ruffled by the whole business.''

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