1999, 22 April Mr Straw is told that the Attorney General had advised against prosecution as it would be "inappropriate". Melita Norwood. The public were shocked when elderly woman Melita Norwood was uncovered as a KGB spy. Born to a British mother and Latvian father, Norwood is most famous for supplying the Soviet Union with state secrets concerning the development of atomic weapons from her job at . Dame Judy Dench stars as the KGB's longest serving British spy in 'Red Joan', Melita Norwood reads a statement in her garden, which she had lovingly tended, Judi Dench plays an older Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, Melita Norwood aged 87 when she faced the cameras, Sophie Cookson plays Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, The former British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association building in central London, Norwood read her statement, surrounded by the garden that she loved so much. Despite having put millions of lives at risk, Norwood, who died in 2005 aged 93, was never prosecuted for her treachery and she never expressed regret for her actions. He too was a member of the Communist Party. Sat 2 Jul 2005 21.01 EDT. Widowed for 13 years, she was a keen gardener - surrounded by the fruits of her labour as she gave her statement - and was seen as bit of a dotty old woman by her neighbours. One was in his office and the other at his London home. Melita Norwood made her unrepentant confession Saturday in the well-tended garden of freesia and daisies in front of her two-story stucco home in Bexleyheath, southeast London. In 1967, she recruited a British civil servant 'Hunt' who passed on secrets about arms sales for nearly 15 years. Melita Norwood was a die-hard communist and unapologetic about her spying. She was lovely, a pure lady, says Sheila Howell, who was a neighbour for more than 20 years. It was not that side I was interested in. "When she became politically active in the 1930s, Russia was seen by many people as the only nation capable of defeating the Nazis. We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred. That was the anodyne name given to Britain's nuclear weapons reseach program that is sometimes compared to the more famous American project conducted in Los Alamos, N.M. Mrs. Norwood regularly removed files from a safe after hours, copied them and turned them over to Soviet agents in meetings in the leafy southeastern suburbs where she has lived for more than 50 years. Her KGB file gave her a glowing review calling her "committed, reliable and disciplined agent, striving to be of the utmost assistance. What is the disease caused by diplococci. They had been married for 50 years when he died in 1986. Husband (m. 19351986). "It was a complete shock at the time. Right up to her death in 2005, Mrs Norwood never wavered from the conviction that what she did was right. Who is Melitta Norwood? The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), New film Red Joan tells the tale of Melita Norwood - a KGB 'man on the inside' who went undetected in Britain for almost 40 years, Melita Norwood, aka Hola, was Russia's most effective spy and wasn't unmasked until 1999, Described as 'the most important female agent ever recruited by the USSR', she is now the inspiration behind Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson's character with the pair playing her at different stages in her life, Her daughter, Anita Ferguson, defends her mother's career as a spy saying 'she did it to help the Russian people', Anita says Norwood was trying to help people and 'wasn't selfish', After joining the Communist Party, Norwood was recruited as a Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein when she was just 22, The film is a glamorised version of events but there is no doubt it is based on unlikely operative Norwood, She never revealed her true identity, not even to her devoted husband Hilary (right), Despite having put millions of lives at risk, Norwood was never prosecuted for her treachery and she never expressed regret for her actions, Norwood leaked highly-classified documents that she came into contact with through her work as a secretary to the director of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, Dr Burke says that it was only when she gave the Russians information on how to safely enrich uranium that they were able to test a bomb in 1949, Dr Burke believes Norwood enjoyed her moment of notoriety, noting the moment she dressed up to address the press outside her home, Asked if the story was true, Norwood replied 'Ive been a rather naughty little girl', Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Melita Norwood: The Soviet Union's Longest-Serving British Spy 220,739 views Mar 20, 2020 7K Dislike Share Save Biographics 2.08M subscribers Check out Business Blaze:. ''I would not have liked to have kept such a secret.''. When she visited Moscow with her husband in 1979, she was given an honor for her work, the Order of the Red Banner, which she accepted, and offered a financial reward, which she turned down. 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. I certainly didn't.". And the sleepy South Staffordshire . "She handed over a very large number of documents of a scientific and technical nature, and these found practical application.". So who was Hola? Key to this was research into metallurgy and this is exactly what Melita Norwood had access to in her apparently lowly job. Melita, suffering cancer and heart disease, died at . Resides in Monticello, AR. Her mother still remained part of the Left-wing political scene, influencing young Norwood who then joined the CPGB. By the time she agreed to work for the KGB, she had been promoted and was personal assistant to the director. She thought he was the best. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and passed them to Moscow. 09:22 GMT 28 Jun 2005, Bungling helicopter pilot blows over stadium roof injuring eight, Coles worker fights a woman allegedly trying to steal groceries, BBC Breakfast celebrates forty years of hilarious bloopers, Royal Family will find it 'impossible' to compromise with Sussexes, Ken Bruce will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio family in April, As it happened: UK Government blocks Scotland's new gender law, Russian pro-war fanatic warns Britain could be 'wiped off the map', Motorists slowly drive down snowy hill in treacherous conditions, Harrowing moment woman begs father not to kill himself, Shamima Begum never considered turning back during journey to ISIS. Where in Bexleyheath did Melita Norwood live? I did not want money. 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. But for the 40 years that she worked for Moscow, her bank balance rarely reflected the spoils of her labour. If you want to learn more about this . ''But I suppose it's all right as long as you are getting paid for it. Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, said in 1999 that superiors had become suspicious of Norwood in the 1940s. We sent soldiers there to die against Hitler. / Close. Norwood was survived by her daughter, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. anita ferguson daughter of melita norwood About; FAQ; Contacts; Location; Rose, David. Her occupation was occupation. And in April 2019, a film adaptation premiered in the U.K. and the U.S. starring Judi Dench as Joan Stanley, the fictional counterpart to Melita Norwood, the real-life spy. Her consequent contribution of atomic intelligence to the Soviet Union was incalculable, certainly big enough for the Russians to declare that she had made a valuable contribution to the development of work in this field. Norwood's daughter, Anit Get started Had she seen for herself her KGB handlers description of her as loyal and trustworthy, it would have come as no surprise, for this is precisely how she saw herself in doing her bit to prevent the defeat of the Communist creed. Her espionage activities weren't publicly revealed until 1999, when former archivist Vasili Mitrokhin - who. Though Norwoods employers were suspicious of her ties to the Communist Party, over decades of work they never pinpointed her as a mole. Shed then pass the camera off to her contact in the KGB, who knew her by her code name Hola.. 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. Norwood worked tirelessly against Britain for four decades before she retired from her spy life in 1972. Experts still debate how much she actually ended up helping the Soviet nuclear program. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and. 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. 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. Mentioned only by codenames, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, of the infamous Cambridge Five, got critical mention: Burgess for not dressing tidily and being constantly under the influence of alcohol, and Maclean for his drunk spells and being not very good at keeping secrets. Still, she refuses to discuss the actual passing over of documents and refuses to say who wooed her to the KGB. Melita Stedman Norwood ( ne Sirnis; 25 Maret 1912 - 2 Juni 2005) adalah seorang pegawai negeri Inggris dan sumber intelijensi KGB. The extent of Norwoods betrayal only became clear in 1999 after Russian defector Vasili Mitrokhin opened up his KGB files to MI5 and British journalists. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. It came as a massive shock to her daughter and to Dr Burke, who already knew Norwood. Norwood was coming clean because a Cambridge historian had discovered her espionage while writing a book, but she was unrepentant. She was dressed in a wide collared lavender floral print blouse and gray tweed skirt and clutching a handwritten piece of paper with slightly trembling fingers. Where those men hid their activities behind their upper-class backgrounds, elite educations and urbanity, Mrs. Norwood disguised hers with her complete suburban unremarkableness. Towards the end of the war, it was carrying out highly classified government research into the properties of uranium, as part of Britains atomic bomb project. But she always felt she did the right thing. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); She married chemistry teacher Hilary Norwood (formerly named Nussbaum), also a Communist, in 1935, and two years later they bought the house on Garden Avenue where she would live for the next 65 years. It was her refusal to get drawn into the glamorous side of being a mole, unlike Philby from the Cambridge University set, that allowed Norwood to evade detection. 131,-K/kg. Includes Address (23) Phone (7) Email (7) See Results. 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 she was just the normal grandmother who came in once a week to pay her bill. 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. 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