Andrew and Sheila lived in Britain whilst Greville served his prison sentence in Moscow. Even the official accounts put out by American and Russian authorities regarding the Penkovsky affair include disinformation and spin that he, or any historian, has to navigate through. 'The Courier' is currently lived by his son, Andrew, as he died in 1990 at the age of 70. Wynne dutifully passed the images to his contacts with British intelligence, who established their legitimacy. The moonlighting spy was arrested on a business trip to Budapest in November 1962 and taken to the Soviet Union. -The New York Times. A British businessman accused of spying for the West has been sentenced to eight years' detention by a Moscow tribunal. And he wrote two memoirs about his time as a spy The Man From Moscow in 1967 and The Man From Odessa in 1981. Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S. The man sitting across the table from him revealed he worked for MI6 and that 41-year-old Wynnes frequent trips to Eastern Europe selling British electrical engineering parts to industrial companies would be the perfect cover for a job the secret service needed doing. Not only was this account widely denied shortly after publication by members of the CIA and Kennedys staff, but it would have been against the way espionage is runkeeping heads of state a safe distance from the details of intelligence work. In 1961, jet travel did not allow someone to fly from the U.K. to the U.S. and back again in 24 hours, says West. In Greville Wynne's 1981 book The Man from Odessa, Wynne claims that Penkovsky committed suicide in a Soviet labor camp. He said he acted as the intermediary for Soviet double agent Col. Oleg Penkovsky, a senior military intelligence officer who passed Moscow secrets to MI6 and the CIA. Greville Wynne had a wife, Sheila, and a son, Andrew. Liam Daniel, Courtesy of Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. At the time, they were largely accepted at face value and sold well. Current appointments. In 1970 Wynne married Johanna Herma Van Buren. In one of his biggest whoppers, Wynne explains that he and Penkovsky took a trip together in a private military jet from the U.K. to Washington, D.C. "Think about going back to life after that intense drama," Cooke says. Wynne was born in Shropshire, England, and raised in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales. He was 71. Of course, they had no idea how much the other would reveal. 2023 Intellisphere Ltd - An Intellisphere Group Company, Registration No 7215890 - VAT Registered No 881 4954 86, Spy Histories The Story Of British Spy Greville Wynne. Another rumour alleged he was strapped to a stretcher and burned alive in a crematorium. He got married again in 1970, to his secretary Herma van Buren, who also worked as an interpreter and spoke eight languages. It also helped Americans to understand how limited the Soviets capabilities actually were in the area, so as tensions grew during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy knew how much rope he could give [Soviet Premier Nikita] Khrushchev, as Duns puts it. Browse our recording devices. [5] His business extended into Eastern Bloc countries from 1955. In these books, Wynne claimed to have been recruited by MI5 as early as the Second World War, long before his work with Penkovsky. [3] His father was a foreman in an engineering workshop. Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox. The way they put it, I felt there was no possibility and then I suddenly found myself in an aeroplane and I arrived at East Berlin.. Wynne went along, slightly concerned about whether Penkovsky was on the level and concerned about putting himself into a dangerous situation, kicking off what would be one of the most productive clandestine operations in Cold War history. [9] Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, though Wynne believed he died by suicide in prison. They spent so much time together in Moscow, partying and clubbing as well as their secret work, that Wynnes first wife Sheila thought he was having an affair. -The New York Times. Wynne said he was subjected to severe beatings and psychological pressure by the Soviet KGM. It was pathological with him.. Full name. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. As mentioned, Greville Wynne had a son named Andrew with his first wife, Sheila. No question." The Courier is in cinemas now In February 1990, it was announced Wynne had died of. He struggled with dyslexia and left school at 14 to work for an electrical contractor. Penkovsky felt stunted in his career with GRU and expected that by helping the West for a year or two, he and his family could be relocated and build a better life, and that he would personally be showered with recognition and honor. Wynne would later relate that as he walked down the steps of an exhibition pavilion, four men suddenly appeared as a car pulled up and Wynne was pushed inside. See FameChain's massive Trump family tree. Performance & security by Cloudflare. February 28, 1990. edit data. He was detained at Lubyanka prison. The MI6 specialist experienced post-arrest sadness and torment. These events serve as the inspiration for The Courier, the new film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Wynne and Georgian actor Merab Ninidze as Penkovsky, out in theaters on March 19. Greville Wynne Greville Wynne married Sheila Wynne (born Beaton). The U.S. was then able to use U-2 spy planes to take photographs and identify the missile sites (see image below). This gave American officials a clearer picture of what the Soviets were doing in the region, bringing in medium-range ballistic missiles. Keirs twin Lewis, who is also an actor, was originally lined up for role, but their mother Marie OGrady-Hills had better ideas. Advertising Notice After months of negotiations, the British government was eventually able to arrange a trade of Wynne for the Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale, whod been arrested the year before and was serving a 25-year sentence in England. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. Meanwhile, 43-year-old Oleg Penkovsky was sentenced to death for his role in the spy activity. Shelia Wynne Wife Of British Spy Greville Wynne Here With Son Andrew Wynne 1964. British spy Greville Wynne owned house in Chelsea during the 1960s He and Soviet double agent Oleg Penkovsky asked MI6 and KGB for a bar Given 500 each but spent most the money on alcohol. "He came from a very humble background, but was always trying to better himself," says Cumberbatch. In researching The Courier true story, we discovered that in exchange for sharing restricted information, Soviet intelligence officer Oleg Penkovsky requested citizenship and military rank in either the U.S.A. or Great Britain. Computer monitoring devices to help you and your loved ones stay protected online. Wynne was a well known character on the island in the 1980s and at one stage . After his release, Wynne returned to his business career. Seeking ways to parlay the notoriety he received, he became what Duns calls a rent-a-spokesperson for all kinds of espionage stuff, making appearances in the media about anything related to spycraft, whether or not it was anything he had experience with. However, Wynne and his wife Sheila split up, after Sheila became suspicious of his frequent trips to Eastern Europe and the Soviet State, thinking that he was having an affair. He loves his mum too. Cold War Budapest in 1962 was not the most welcoming place for a British businessman, but Greville Wynne was feeling rather pleased with himself. Khruschev later backed off and ordered the Soviet missiles returned to the Soviet Union after President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba. In real life, Wynne's wife Sheila divorced him after he was released from the Moscow prison and returned to Britain. His second wife, whom he married in 1970, was Herma van Buren, his constant companion, secretary and interpreter who spoke eight languages. Among the materials Penkovsky provided to Wynne were four photocopies of plans for construction sites of missile-launching installations in Cuba. An industrial sales consultant who regularly traveled through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union representing British electrical and steel companies, Wynne was told it would be helpful if on his next trip, he could arrange for a meeting with a state committee in Moscow dedicated to developing opportunities with foreigners in science and technology, and report back on his conversations. Benedict Cumberbatch lurks in the shadows in The Courier, Greville Wynne in 1964 after being freed from a Russian jail, Greville Wynne when he was arrested for espionage in Budapest in 1962, Greville Wynne pictured at Northolt Airport surrounded by press and police, after his release from a Russian jail, Spy equipment taken from Soviet scientific worker Oleg Penkovsky when the Russians caught him, The Courier tells the true story of espionage behind Russian lines. Herma van Buren Bio Details. Oleg Penkovsky also provided documents that revealed that the Soviet Union was ill-equipped to fight a war in the area.In addition, Colonel Penkovsky provided Wynne with the names and photographs of roughly 300 East bloc intelligence agents, as well as information about Soviet weapons production and military manpower. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. His wife Sheila divorced him and he became estranged from his only son Andrew. Space-X continues to reach for the stars. In 2021 in the UK, Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovskys story was brought to the big screen, as the film The Courier was released. If this spy case would have emerged in the modern day, both Andrew and Sheila may have been more of a centre point for the media and their lives could have been followed closely. This intelligence gave both the United Kingdom and the United States the knowledge necessary to manage the quickly evolving military friction with the Soviet Union. Greville Wynne was born on 19th March 1919 in Shropshire, UK. Discover our wide range of tracking devices. Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs. March 1, 1990. When Wynne visited Moscow in July 1962, his hotel room and luggage were searched, and he was tailed during his travels. He later appeared as himself on the May 23, 1967 episode of the American game show To Tell the Truth. To top it off, it would have been physically impossible at the time. Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919 [2] - 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne", "Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film", "Nonfiction Book Review: The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War by Jerrold L. Schecter, Author, Peter S. Deriabin, With Scribner Book Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greville_Wynne&oldid=1141334696, He was portrayed by Peter Lindford in the 2007, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 15:01. Benedict Cumberbatch delivers an appealing, technically tricky performance in "The Courier," in which he plays Greville Wynne, a British salesman who in the 1960s became an improbable player . Her Other Children Greville Wynne Bio Details Full name Greville Maynard Wynne Gender Male Age 70 Date of birth Wednesday 19 Mar 1919 Birth place Wrockwardine Wood, Shropshire, Wales, UK Date of death: 28 Feb 1990 Place of death Cromwell Hospital, South Kensington, London, England, UK Cause of death This version is supported by Alexander Zagvozdin, who was the KGB's chief interrogator during the investigation. Wynne, despite claiming ignorance of what materials he was smuggling to the West, was sentenced to eight years in prison. 01:26 GMT 14 Aug 2021. Wynne served 18 months in Moscows Lubianka Prison. He attended the University of Nottingham, studying Electrical Engineering, and after graduating went on to become an engineer. The films screenwriter, Tom OConnor, found Wynnes story of a nobody suddenly becoming a somebody compelling. They were convicted of espionage. Greville Wynne, who spied on the Soviet Union for Britain in the cold war and who spent 18 months in a Moscow prison after being caught, died of throat cancer on Wednesday, hospital officials. He then worked at a telephone factory as an apprentice. Wynne died of throat cancer in 1990 at a London hospital. This incredible story is the focus of a new movie called The Courier starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Wynne a role that clearly excites him. 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