Ernest Holloway Oldham
| Ernest Holloway Oldham link Spartacus (Spook) | |
|---|---|
| File:No image available (photo).jpg | |
| Born | September 10, 1894 Edmonton, London, United Kingdom |
| Died | September 29, 1933 Kensington, London, United Kingdom |
Cause of death | "suicide" |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Spouse | Lucy Eliza Kayser |
Cipher clerk in the British Foreign Office | |
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Ernest Holloway Oldham was a cipher clerk in the British Foreign Office who spied for the Soviet Union between 1929 and his death in 1933.
His job gave him access to highly sensitive communications between Britain and her foreign embassies, and the material he passed to his handler Dmitri Bystrolyotov was highly regarded in Moscow. He had no apparent ideological interest in helping the Soviet Union (unlike the more famous Cambridge spies), but was driven by the large amounts of money. By 1933, the pressures of his activities had led to his sacking from the [[Foreign Office], alcoholism, domestic violence and ultimately alleged suicide.
His espionage was only partly suspected by his employers during the last months of Oldham's life, when MI5 began their investigation and surveillance. His activities were uncovered in 1940 when Oldham was identified by the Soviet defector Walter Krivitsky during his interrogations with MI5.
References
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