Joan Miller, Unlikely Spy: Background information when reading An Unlikely Spy

Joan Miller, Unlikely Spy

This article relates to An Unlikely Spy

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and in the case of An Unlikely Spy, fiction mirrors reality with a protagonist whose escapades parallel those of a real MI5 spy, Joan Miller.

Don't worry, An Unlikely Spy strays from the real-life story just enough in the end for me to assure you there are no spoilers here.

Joan Miller was born in 1918 and joined MI5 — Britain's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency — just before World War II. She began working in the transportation division doing menial bureaucratic tasks before being recruited into B5b — the division responsible for finding political subversives. Her mission: infiltrate the Right Club, a secret organization of Britons attempting to unify the right-wing. The Right Club was vociferously anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi in political affiliation.

MI5 picked the right person for the job. Miller quickly infiltrated and climbed the ladder of the secret society, becoming one of its most senior members. MI5's monitoring of the group proved serendipitous.

The Right Club frequently met at a Russian teahouse. Miller was investigating the Russian-born proprietor of the establishment, Anna Wolkoff, when she stumbled upon a bombshell. An American cipher clerk, Tyler Kent, working at the US Embassy in London under Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, became a regular patron at the teahouse. Kent was concerned the UK was baiting the United States into war with Germany.

Kent told members of the Right Club he had proof. He copied top-secret communiques between Great Britain and the United States, including messages between President Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Kent showed these messages to Wolkoff and the Right Club's leader, and they made copies to smuggle to Germany via the Italian Embassy. Miller's high position in the secret society allowed her to be privy to these developments, and she duly reported them to MI5.

Eventually, she was asked by Wolkoff to help ferry more stolen intelligence out of England. Miller agreed and naturally brought it to MI5 first. They copied the stolen intelligence and presented it to Ambassador Kennedy. The ambassador agreed to waive Kent's diplomatic immunity and the sting was on.

Shortly thereafter, Kent's apartment was raided. Inside were copies of 1,929 classified documents, including secret correspondence between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. Better still, Kent possessed the ultimate prize — a red book detailing the name of every Right Club secret society member. Kent had been given the list under the assumption his diplomatic immunity would keep it out of the hands of MI5.

The goal of the Right Club was to destabilize democracy. In the days before Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, the radio played a crucial role in persuading the public. The information being ferried out of the American Embassy was not merely useful for German intelligence. Secret communications were a tool. They could be broadcast on the radio to audiences in Great Britain to cast doubt on Churchill and Roosevelt's true aims and build anti-war sentiment.

The Right Club hoped to create a backlash against British and American involvement in the war and facilitate a negotiated peace with Germany. The club believed the secret letters would destabilize both politicians in the polls and lead to right-wing candidates winning elections, particularly if they could broadcast this information on the radio.

Wolkoff and Kent received ten- and seven-year sentences, respectively, after being found guilty of subversive behavior. Wolkoff felt so betrayed by the event, she vowed to kill Miller upon her release. It was a vow she failed to keep.

Joan Miller went on to work for British political intelligence. During her post-war career, she caught another spy passing classified documents to the Soviet Union. She passed away in 1984, but in 1986 her daughter successfully managed to get Joan Miller's autobiography, One Girl's War, published — though MI5 did its best to prevent this.

Cover of One Girl's War, courtesy of eBay

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This "beyond the book article" relates to An Unlikely Spy. It originally ran in August 2021 and has been updated for the April 2022 paperback edition. Go to magazine.