Gerald Brooke

Gerald Brooke was a British teacher who taught Russian. In 1965 he travelled to the Soviet Union at a time when the Cold War was at its height. On the 25 April, Brooke and his wife Barbara were arrested by the Russian secret police, the KGB, for smuggling anti-Soviet leaflets.

Barbara was later released and returned to Britain but Brooke was sentenced to five years' detention, including four years in labour camps, for "subversive anti-Soviet activity on the territory of the Soviet Union".

Brooke lived in Finchley in north west London and his case was raised in the House of Commons by his Member of Parliament, Margaret Thatcher.

After four years in custody, he was exchanged on the 24 July 1969 for Soviet spies Morris and Lona Cohen (aka Peter and Helen Kroger) who had been arrested by the British as part of the Portland Spy Ring. The Russian authorities only told Brooke he was being sent home 24 hours before he did actually get back to Britain, though the negotiations themselves must have been over a long period of days if not weeks.

Upon his arrival at Heathrow Brooke was surprised by the huge presence of journalists and reporters. He explained that he was suffering from an inflamed colon, aggravated by prison food, and he was not used to speaking English or seeing so many people. Prevented for saying too much about his ordeal he simply stated that prison conditions "were not particularly soft".

The Cohens returned to the Soviet Union in October 1969 after serving nine years of their 20-year sentence.

Such exchanges had happened before. Notable examples included Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for U2 pilot Gary Powers and Gordon Lonsdale for Greville Wynne; but British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government was criticised by the opposition for agreeing to release dangerous Soviet agents like Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Brooke, a mere propagandist. Opponents claimed that it set a dangerous precedent and was an example of blackmail rather than a fair exchange.

Brooke later claimed that he had passed on concealed documents - including code - on behalf of the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists (NTS), an anti-Soviet organisation. It is possible that the Soviets threatened to charge him with espionage which would have resulted in a much longer, if not a capital, sentence.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/24/newsid_2513000/2513233.stm BBC report on the case] .