Alan Hillgarth

Captain Sir Alan Hugh Hillgarth Bt, OBE (1899–1978) was a British adventure novelist and member of the intelligence services, perhaps most well known for his activities in Spain during and following the Spanish Civil War. [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31233?_fromAuth=1] ] Hillgarth appears as one the actual historical figures in C. J. Sansom's 2006 novel "Winter in Madrid".

In the book "Roosevelt & Churchill: Men of Secrets", the historian David Stafford gives an account of Hillgarth's links with Winston Churchill in prewar Majorca, where Hillgarth was the British consul. By the outbreak of World War II, Hillgarth was Naval Attaché in Madrid, where he handled a huge number of clandestine intelligence operations on behalf of the British government.

In his book "Men of War", Hillgarth wrote that "adventure was once a noble appellation borne proudly by men such as Raleigh and Drake. . . [but is now] reserved for the better-dressed members of the criminal classes."

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