Gervase Cowell

Gervase Cowell
Born(1926-08-04)4 August 1926
Sale, Cheshire
Died2 May 2000(2000-05-02) (aged 73)
Sutton, London
EducationSt Bede's College, Manchester
Alma materSt Catharine's College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Intelligence agent, diplomat and Historian
SpousePamela Alger
ChildrenTwo sons and a daughter

Gervase Cowell MBE ((1926-08-04)4 August 1926 – (2000-05-02)2 May 2000) was half of a British husband-and-wife intelligence team who handled Colonel Oleg Penkovsky, a Soviet GRU military intelligence officer who provided the West with invaluable military secrets.[1][2][3][4][5]

Gervase and Pamela Cowell replaced another couple, Charles and Janet Chisholm, after Janet became pregnant and was recalled to London in June 1962.[1] After Penkovsky was arrested on 22 October 1962, tried and later executed, the Cowells were expelled from the Soviet Union.[1]

After retirement he became chairman of the historical sub-committee of the Special Forces Club, for which work he was made an MBE in the new year's honours list.[6]

Bibliography

Cowell, G., Special Forces Club., & Great Britain. (1993). Ravensbrück: The women of S.O.E.F Section. London: Special Forces Club.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gervase Cowell". The Guardian. 15 May 2000. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Gervase Cowell, 73, Manager of a Soviet Turncoat Spy, Dies". The New York Times. 12 May 2000. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Gervase Cowell: British Anti-Soviet Spy". Los Angeles Times. 13 May 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  4. ^ Duns, Jeremy (3 November 2013). "The Spy Who Saved The World—Then Tried To Destroy It". Daily Beast. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  5. ^ "1963: Moscow jails British 'spy'". BBC news. 11 May 1963. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Cowell, Gervase (oral history)". www.iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  7. ^ Cowell, Gervase (1993). Cowell, G., Special Forces ClubRavensbrück: The women of S.O.E.F Section. Special Forces Club.


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