https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/1b1e5eaa83a89cee01fd06aec110234e.pdf 08e7815c65902a7b2ccfffb7c8789c71 PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en v rt!! d~1,la Loi sur l'a<[es a /'information PRIVY COUNC OFFICE 1 • ~;-<, tl,,,;,' I-~~.-:.~~ CONFIDENTIAL S6;;_(;o - L/o -V4_1 Memorandum for Mr. G. de T. Glazebrook I find these two articles a sensitive and brilliant analysis of Burgess and Maclean, and I believe they should be given a wide distribution to people who would be likely to understand them. I • The Maclean that I knew in Washington was the man Connolly describes ver.y accurately as "Sir Donald 11 and the alter~ was only occasionally and faintly apparent. I recall one occasion which may add something to Connol~y's analysis of him. My wife and I were to dine with Donald~ and Melinda one night before going on together to th~ annual diplomatic reception at the White House. When we arrived at the Macleans' house they were still dressing upstairs. Consequently we wandered around as one does in the drawing-room looking at things. It was a neat and charming room - the kind one would expect - with interesting books and good pictures, and obviously arranged with good taste and care. After a while Donald called over the stairs and we went up to their bedroom while they finished dressing. The contrast upstairs was quite extraordinary. The bedroom was a dirty shambles - not the normal disarray which can follow dressing in a hurry. 'i'...he bed was unmade and heaps of dirty linen lay about the floor so that we had to step over them in moving about. Even if this was the result of some unusual domestic crisis it seemed very odd that visitors should be casually'invited up to see it. The rest of the evening took the form of a series of delaying actions on Donald's part - long rounds of· cocktails, a late and drawn out dinner, insistence on more coffee - with the result that we did not arrive at the White House until after the President had retired. Donald was delighted at this, and I had a strong impression that he had been deliberately trying to spoil the occasion and prick the rather pompous bubble of a White House ceremony. This might not have been remarkable in many people but seemed at the time so much at odds with Donald's normal diplomatic personality. From what } 9-~~nolly says it would seem that. in Cairo the bedroom l,__::s moved downstairs into the drawing-room. I think that the remark attributed to Maclean in the second article (rWhat would you do if I told you I was·a Communist agent?") is probably very significant. The description of Burgess' activities on May 25 seems to follow a recognisable pattern - particularly the apparent use of the American 11lVIiller 11 to cover the purchase of passages to France, and the use of a cover name in introducing him to Melinda. Connolly suggests that the first duty of a secret agent is to 000160 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur /'acces a /'information - 2 - avoid detection by expressing conventional and not communist views. He points out that Burgess talked~ lot of communism. Ideally this is quite true, but the control of Maclean as an agent of a Soviet intelligence service would present very special problems. He could, I think, only be controlled by someone ot equal intellectual stature and a similar social background, hence the choice of a control would be very limited. Maclean 1 s exceptional value as an agent would call, if necessary, for exceptional risks of which Burgess may have been one. I how feel that it is very probable that Maclean was in fact a Soviet agent and that in para: 2(b) of his summing-up Connolly may have come very close to the truth. Connolly mentions Donald Maclean 1 s devoted love for his son~, Fergus and Donalbain. I remember some time ago reading a letter written to his wife by a Soviet agent called Alexander Rado when he was on his way to his death at the hands of the Russians. It contained a pitiful realization or what his clandestine work had done to the lives of his children. If our speculations are true, I suppose Donald must have some such realization. 000161 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource CDMB Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDMB00012 Title A name given to the resource Peter M. Dwyer, Memorandum for G. deT. Glazebrook, 9 October 1952 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 09-Oct-52 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived LAC RG25/R219 2017-0440-5 Box 11 File 7-5-Burg Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Library and Archives Canada Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource MacLean/Burgess Description An account of the resource A-2023-02971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Access to Information Request Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English