Posted on 11/05/2021 4:03:01 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
On this date in 1925, legendary British spy — and subsequent James Bond inspiration — Sidney Reilly was shot in a forest outside Moscow for his efforts to overthrow the Soviet government.
Fact blends insensibly into fiction in Reilly‘s biography; much of what is known or believed about him is conjectural or colored by his posthumous valorization, such the 1967 book Reilly: Ace of Spies written by [the son of] his onetime cloak-and-dagger collaborator Robin Bruce Lockhart — who was himself a close friend of Bond author Ian Fleming.
However, even at the word of less sensational biographers — such as Andrew Cook — Reilly lived a life almost too extraordinary for belief.
A Jewish child of tsarist Russia born in what is now the Ukraine, Reilly claimed to have escaped Odessa by faking his death and hopping a ship bound for Brazil. Like much of Reilly’s life, the story is unverifiable, but by hook or by crook — and possibly by way of a murder in France — he arrived in London in 1895, hitched himself to a wealthy woman a few months after the suspicious death of her husband (discarding the inconvenient surname Rosenblum in the process), and became entangled with British intelligence.
In the first decade of the 20th century, he apparently spied promiscuously on England’s imperial rivals Germany and Russia, though the particulars are disputed. He arrived in Port Arthur, Russia, shortly before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War and may have provided the Japanese fleet intelligence enabling it to navigate the mined harbor — in addition to a copious side business in war profiteering. He may also have had a hand in capturing British oil concessions in Persia and reconnoitering behind German lines during World War I....
(Excerpt) Read more at executedtoday.com ...
I vaguely remember a series running on my local pbs station decades back.
Yes. Sam Neil plays Reilly. Excellent series.
Segments of the series are still available — dailymotion.com
Here’s the first and the rest are mostly there. Excellent series, based on Lockhart’s book. Really happened, and a great guide for ... well, today.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7vyi3y
We re-watched it recently on either Acorn or Britbox.
He was 006
AWESOME!
I was disappointed when he was passed up as the next Bond. Would have been a great fit for the part.
Just finished an 8 part mini series from 2014 with him and Bryan Brown called “Old School” If you can find it, good watch.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3164100/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6
Erratum: Port Arthur is in China, not Russia.
Next to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, best series they ever ran
Czarist Russia owned Port Arthur and controlled thus a good part of China of that time, mongolia. Which the Japanese (who were allied with British!) wanted and got by destroying the port and the Russian fleet at anchor. A massive loss which required the ships be made up, and were by a German maker— Blohm & Voss. Fascinating story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.