Web site of Robert Verkaik, author of the book
Those who believe that the toffs look after their own and have few concerns for the little people (ie you and me) will no doubt find support for their view in a new book by Robert Verkaik.
It says Cambridge double agent (Sir) Anthony Blunt not only spied for the Soviets but also provided information to the Nazis which cost thousands of British lives.
Blunt is alleged to have used the cover name Josephine to provide details of the "Market Garden" operation in the Netherlands in 1944. The soldiers who parachuted in encountered unexpected heavy resistance.
Verkaik says Blunt's actions "contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of Allied servicemen and women and countless civilians who perished as a result of a prolonged war".
Blunt was one of a small group in MI5 who knew about "Market Garden", which involved dropping thousands of paratroopers and glider troops into Nazi held territory.
If the whole terrible episode was an MI5 cock up it might explain why when Blunt was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for telling what he knew, the MI5 officer chosen as the inquisitor was Peter Wright.
Wright was a scientist not an inquisitor and in his book Spycatcher he says Blunt didn't tell him anything worth knowing. Perhaps if he had something would have been done about the way MI5 is run.
Soviet traitor and Cambridge Five spy ring member Anthony Blunt may also have passed secrets to the Nazis resulting in deaths of thousands of Allied troops, new book claims
Fears British traitor 'passed on secrets to Nazis' which led to huge defeat in 1944
Cambridge spy may have helped Nazis, new book suggests
Jonathan Brind