Tremain, David Fallout. Exposing an Atomic Spy

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, on 5 September 1945, something happened that supposedly marked the beginning of the Cold War. A young cryptographer working for the Soviet military intelligence service GRU defected to the West, taking with him a large number of documents and exposing a vast espionage network on both sides of the Atlantic. At first, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King hesitated to respond, fearing that any action by his government could trigger a Third World War with the Soviets. Igor Gouzenko revealed that British nuclear physicist Alan Nunn May, who had worked on the Tube Alloys/Manhattan Project, was part of this espionage network and had passed secrets about the atomic bomb to the Russians. This led to a rift in American-British relations and the so-called McMahon Act, which excluded Britain and thus Canada from further cooperation in the development of nuclear research. In addition, a Canadian Royal Commission was set up to investigate the extent to which spies had infiltrated the Canadian government and what information they had passed on. Gouzenko and his family lived under witness protection for fear of assassination by the KGB, while Alan Nunn May was tried and convicted of espionage after his return to Britain. When he was released from prison in 1952, he had difficulty finding employment. When he died, he remained firmly convinced that his actions had been justified. This book examines the Gouzenko affair and corrects some of the myths surrounding his story. It also deals with the trial of Nunn May, his accomplices and his life as a convicted but unrepentant spy.