Portland Spy Ring
Encyclopedia
The Portland Spy Ring was a Soviet spy ring that operated in England
from the late 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network was arrested by the British security services. It is one of the most famous examples of the use of illegal residents
— spies who operate in a foreign country but without the cover of their embassy. Its members included Harry Houghton
, Ethel Gee
, Gordon Lonsdale and Morris
and Lona Cohen
.
, codenamed Sniper (who later turned out to be Michael Goleniewski
). Sniper said information was reaching the Russians from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland
, England
, where the Royal Navy
tested equipment for undersea warfare. The letters were passed on to MI5
, the British security service.
Suspicion fell on Harry Houghton
, a former sailor who was a civil service clerk at the base. He had just bought his fourth car and a house and was also a heavy drinker who would buy rounds at the local pubs. Houghton's expenses were far beyond his meagre salary.
MI5 put Houghton under surveillance
. They also watched his mistress, Ethel Gee
. She was a filing clerk who handled documents Houghton himself did not have access to. They often went to London
, where they would meet a man identified as Gordon Lonsdale, a Canadian businessman. During these meetings Lonsdale and Houghton exchanged packages.
Lonsdale allegedly dealt in jukeboxes and bubble gum machines. He often traveled abroad and was a ladies' man. MI5 promptly put him under surveillance. It was found that Lonsdale often went to 45 Cranley Drive, Ruislip
in North-West London to visit an antiquarian bookseller at home, Peter Kroger
and his wife Helen
. The Krogers were also put under close but discreet watch.
detectives jointly led by Chief Inspector
Ian Harold Brown and Detective Superintendent
George Gordon Smith — as MI5 officers are not authorised to make arrests. Gee's shopping bag contained huge amounts of film and photographs of classified material, including details of HMS Dreadnought
, Britain's first nuclear submarine, and the stalling speed specifications of the Borg Warner torque converter
.
Smith and two colleagues then went to Ruislip to see the Krogers. Claiming to be investigating some local burglaries they gained entry to the house. Once inside they identified themselves as Special Branch officers and said that the Krogers had to accompany them to Scotland Yard
for questioning. Before leaving Mrs Kroger asked to be allowed to stoke up the boiler. Before she could, Smith insisted on checking her handbag first. It was found to contain microdot
s, the photographic reduction of documents in order to make them small enough to be smuggled more easily. Smith, a veteran spy catcher, had guessed her intention to destroy these microdots.
The microdots found at the Krogers' home were letters sent between Lonsdale and his wife, who lived in the USSR
with their children. These included things like money matters and how the children were doing at school. Kroger had used the print in his antique books to hold the microdots and smuggle them between Britain and Russia. These would have included the secrets passed on by Houghton and Gee.
The Kroger house was full of spying equipment, including large sums of money, photographic material, code pads for coding messages and a long-range radio transmitter-receiver for communicating with Moscow. It took several days to unearth all the equipment, and other items including fake passports were not found until after the police had left. The MI5 intelligence officer Peter Wright
has stated that the Krogers' radio transmitter was only located after nine days of searching. Large amounts of money were also found in the homes of Houghton, Gee and Lonsdale.
at Bow Street Magistrates Court. Gee and the Krogers protested their innocence; Houghton tried to turn Queen's Evidence
but was refused; Lonsdale maintained complete silence. The trial began on Monday 13 March 1961.
In giving evidence, Gee claimed that as far as she knew, Lonsdale was Alex Johnson, an American naval Commander who wanted to know how the British were handling information passed on by the United States
. She had had no idea that the information was actually going to the Russians. She had gone along out of love for Houghton, her first lover after a lifetime of spinsterhood.
Houghton claimed that he had been the subject of threats by mystery men and beatings by thugs if he failed to pass on information. These men had also made threats concerning Gee and Houghton's ex-wife. He too, he claimed, had only known Lonsdale as Alex Johnson and he tried desperately to minimize Gee's involvement.
Neither Lonsdale nor the Krogers took the stand, but in statements read out in court, Lonsdale took responsibility. He claimed that the Krogers were innocent: he had often looked after their house while they were away and had used it to hide his spying equipment without their knowledge. Peter and Helen Kroger backed up this claim, saying that Peter was simply an antiquarian bookseller and Helen a housewife. But they could not explain why fake Canadian passports with their photos were found in the house, and clearly intended for a possible get-away.
The jury returned verdicts of guilty for all of the accused. Superintendent Smith then took the stand. He announced that through their fingerprints, the Krogers had been identified as Morris
and Lona Cohen
, renowned spies who had worked with Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Rudolf Abel and David Greenglass
in the United States. Smith also revealed Cohen's past life in the military and scholastic service.
On the other hand, Lonsdale remained a man of mystery in spite of extensive inquiries by MI5
, the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and other Western intelligence services. They were convinced that he was an actual Russian and a member of the KGB
, but so far his past could only be traced back as far as 1954 when he had first appeared in Canada.
The Krogers (i.e. the Cohens) were sentenced to 20 years' jail. In 1969, they were exchanged for the British citizen Gerald Brooke
who had been arrested by the Russians. As part of the process the Soviets confirmed that they were spies.
Lonsdale, the mastermind, was sentenced to 25 years. In 1964 he was exchanged for the British spy Greville Wynne
who had been arrested in Russia. His real name was revealed to be Konon Trofimovich Molody.
It is believed that the ring numbered more than the five who were arrested, but these would have included staff at the Russian and Polish
embassies who would have been immune to prosecution
anyway.
as Gordon Lonsdale and Bernard Lee
as Henry Houghton (Lee is best known for the part of M
in the James Bond films).
Playwright and screenwriter Hugh Whitemore
wrote a play Pack of Lies
about the relationship between the Krogers and their neighbours, whose house was used as a base for British security officials investigating the Krogers in the months leading up to their arrest. It has been staged a number of times, including major productions in London and New York. In 1987 the play was made into a CBS television drama starring Teri Garr
, Alan Bates
, Ellen Burstyn
and Ellen Burstyn
, though the name "Kroger" was changed to "Schaefer". It was also performed as BBC Radio 4
's Saturday Play on 9 September 2006, starring Ed Begley, Jr.
as Peter Kroger, Teri Garr again as Helen, Alfred Molina
as their neighbour and Michael York
as the man from MI5. It was directed by Martin Jarvis.
A television movie drama Longford
was shown on Britain's Channel 4
on Thursday 26 October 2006. When Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
first visits Myra Hindley at Holloway Prison, it is announced that Helen Kroger and Ethel Gee are also expecting visitors.
The Spy Game by Georgina Harding uses the Krogers and their cover as a harmless and typical suburban couple as background to her novel, published in 2009.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from the late 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network was arrested by the British security services. It is one of the most famous examples of the use of illegal residents
Resident Spies
In espionage operational techniques, a chief of station may be known as a resident. There may also be multiple chiefs; for instance, Russia probably still operates GRU military and SVR civilian. There are two types of resident spies: legals and illegals...
— spies who operate in a foreign country but without the cover of their embassy. Its members included Harry Houghton
Harry Houghton
Harry Houghton was a spy for the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR during the Cold War. He was a member of the Portland Spy Ring.-Early life:...
, Ethel Gee
Ethel Gee
Ethel Elizabeth Gee , nicknamed "Bunty", was an Englishwoman who helped her lover spy on their country for the Soviet Union. She was a minor member of the Portland Spy Ring.-Early life:...
, Gordon Lonsdale and Morris
Morris Cohen (Soviet spy)
Morris Cohen also known in London as Peter Kroger was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.-Birth and education:...
and Lona Cohen
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
.
Tracking the spy ring
In 1959 the CIA received letters from a moleMole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
, codenamed Sniper (who later turned out to be Michael Goleniewski
Michael Goleniewski
Michael Goleniewski a.k.a. 'SNIPER', 'LAVINIA', , was a Polish officer in the People's Republic of Poland's Ministry Of Public Security, the deputy head of military counterintelligence GZI WP, later head of the technical and scientific section of the Polish intelligence,and a spy for the Soviet...
). Sniper said information was reaching the Russians from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
tested equipment for undersea warfare. The letters were passed on to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, the British security service.
Suspicion fell on Harry Houghton
Harry Houghton
Harry Houghton was a spy for the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR during the Cold War. He was a member of the Portland Spy Ring.-Early life:...
, a former sailor who was a civil service clerk at the base. He had just bought his fourth car and a house and was also a heavy drinker who would buy rounds at the local pubs. Houghton's expenses were far beyond his meagre salary.
MI5 put Houghton under surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
. They also watched his mistress, Ethel Gee
Ethel Gee
Ethel Elizabeth Gee , nicknamed "Bunty", was an Englishwoman who helped her lover spy on their country for the Soviet Union. She was a minor member of the Portland Spy Ring.-Early life:...
. She was a filing clerk who handled documents Houghton himself did not have access to. They often went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they would meet a man identified as Gordon Lonsdale, a Canadian businessman. During these meetings Lonsdale and Houghton exchanged packages.
Lonsdale allegedly dealt in jukeboxes and bubble gum machines. He often traveled abroad and was a ladies' man. MI5 promptly put him under surveillance. It was found that Lonsdale often went to 45 Cranley Drive, Ruislip
Ruislip
Ruislip is a suburban area, centred on an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.It was formerly also a parish covering the neighbouring areas of Eastcote, Northwood, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip in the area. The parish appears in the Domesday Book, and...
in North-West London to visit an antiquarian bookseller at home, Peter Kroger
Morris Cohen (Soviet spy)
Morris Cohen also known in London as Peter Kroger was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.-Birth and education:...
and his wife Helen
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
. The Krogers were also put under close but discreet watch.
The arrests
On Saturday 7 January 1961, Houghton, Gee and Lonsdale were meeting in London when they were arrested by Special BranchSpecial Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
detectives jointly led by Chief Inspector
Chief inspector
Chief inspector is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police .-Australia:...
Ian Harold Brown and Detective Superintendent
Superintendent (police)
Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...
George Gordon Smith — as MI5 officers are not authorised to make arrests. Gee's shopping bag contained huge amounts of film and photographs of classified material, including details of HMS Dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought (S101)
The seventh HMS Dreadnought was the United Kingdom's first nuclear-powered submarine, built by Vickers Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness. Launched by Queen Elizabeth II on Trafalgar Day 1960 and commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in April 1963, she continued in service until 1980...
, Britain's first nuclear submarine, and the stalling speed specifications of the Borg Warner torque converter
Torque converter
In modern usage, a torque converter is generally a type of hydrodynamic fluid coupling that is used to transfer rotating power from a prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine or electric motor, to a rotating driven load...
.
Smith and two colleagues then went to Ruislip to see the Krogers. Claiming to be investigating some local burglaries they gained entry to the house. Once inside they identified themselves as Special Branch officers and said that the Krogers had to accompany them to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
for questioning. Before leaving Mrs Kroger asked to be allowed to stoke up the boiler. Before she could, Smith insisted on checking her handbag first. It was found to contain microdot
Microdot
A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size onto a 1mm disc to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular around one millimetre in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials such as polyester...
s, the photographic reduction of documents in order to make them small enough to be smuggled more easily. Smith, a veteran spy catcher, had guessed her intention to destroy these microdots.
The microdots found at the Krogers' home were letters sent between Lonsdale and his wife, who lived in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
with their children. These included things like money matters and how the children were doing at school. Kroger had used the print in his antique books to hold the microdots and smuggle them between Britain and Russia. These would have included the secrets passed on by Houghton and Gee.
The Kroger house was full of spying equipment, including large sums of money, photographic material, code pads for coding messages and a long-range radio transmitter-receiver for communicating with Moscow. It took several days to unearth all the equipment, and other items including fake passports were not found until after the police had left. The MI5 intelligence officer Peter Wright
Peter Wright
Peter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
has stated that the Krogers' radio transmitter was only located after nine days of searching. Large amounts of money were also found in the homes of Houghton, Gee and Lonsdale.
Trial
Two days after their arrest all five were charged with espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
at Bow Street Magistrates Court. Gee and the Krogers protested their innocence; Houghton tried to turn Queen's Evidence
Turn state's evidence
To turn state's evidence is when an accused or convicted criminal testifies as a witness for the state against his associates or accomplices. Turning state's evidence is occasionally a result of a change of heart or feelings of guilt, but more often is done in response to a generous offer from the...
but was refused; Lonsdale maintained complete silence. The trial began on Monday 13 March 1961.
In giving evidence, Gee claimed that as far as she knew, Lonsdale was Alex Johnson, an American naval Commander who wanted to know how the British were handling information passed on by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She had had no idea that the information was actually going to the Russians. She had gone along out of love for Houghton, her first lover after a lifetime of spinsterhood.
Houghton claimed that he had been the subject of threats by mystery men and beatings by thugs if he failed to pass on information. These men had also made threats concerning Gee and Houghton's ex-wife. He too, he claimed, had only known Lonsdale as Alex Johnson and he tried desperately to minimize Gee's involvement.
Neither Lonsdale nor the Krogers took the stand, but in statements read out in court, Lonsdale took responsibility. He claimed that the Krogers were innocent: he had often looked after their house while they were away and had used it to hide his spying equipment without their knowledge. Peter and Helen Kroger backed up this claim, saying that Peter was simply an antiquarian bookseller and Helen a housewife. But they could not explain why fake Canadian passports with their photos were found in the house, and clearly intended for a possible get-away.
The jury returned verdicts of guilty for all of the accused. Superintendent Smith then took the stand. He announced that through their fingerprints, the Krogers had been identified as Morris
Morris Cohen (Soviet spy)
Morris Cohen also known in London as Peter Kroger was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.-Birth and education:...
and Lona Cohen
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
, renowned spies who had worked with Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Rudolf Abel and David Greenglass
David Greenglass
David Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union who worked in the Manhattan project. He was the brother of Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
in the United States. Smith also revealed Cohen's past life in the military and scholastic service.
On the other hand, Lonsdale remained a man of mystery in spite of extensive inquiries by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
and other Western intelligence services. They were convinced that he was an actual Russian and a member of the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, but so far his past could only be traced back as far as 1954 when he had first appeared in Canada.
Sentences and later lives
Houghton and Gee were sentenced to 15 years in prison. They were released in 1970 and married.The Krogers (i.e. the Cohens) were sentenced to 20 years' jail. In 1969, they were exchanged for the British citizen Gerald Brooke
Gerald Brooke
Gerald Brooke was a British teacher who taught Russian. In 1965 he travelled to the Soviet Union. Brooke and his wife Barbara were arrested on 25 April by KGB agents for smuggling anti-Soviet leaflets....
who had been arrested by the Russians. As part of the process the Soviets confirmed that they were spies.
Lonsdale, the mastermind, was sentenced to 25 years. In 1964 he was exchanged for the British spy Greville Wynne
Greville Wynne
Greville Maynard Wynne was a British spy famous for his involvement with, and imprisonment as a result of, the espionage activities of Oleg Penkovsky.-Life:...
who had been arrested in Russia. His real name was revealed to be Konon Trofimovich Molody.
It is believed that the ring numbered more than the five who were arrested, but these would have included staff at the Russian and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
embassies who would have been immune to prosecution
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
anyway.
In popular culture
In 1964, the events were used in the movie Ring of Spies (aka Ring of Treason), directed by Robert Tronson and starring William SylvesterWilliam Sylvester
William Sylvester was an American television and film actor. His most famous film credit was Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey...
as Gordon Lonsdale and Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
as Henry Houghton (Lee is best known for the part of M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
in the James Bond films).
Playwright and screenwriter Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore is an English playwright and screenwriter.Whitemore studied for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he is now a Member of the Council. He began his writing career in British television with both original teleplays and adaptations of classic works by Charles...
wrote a play Pack of Lies
Pack of Lies
Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore.Based on a true story, the plot centres on Bob and Barbara Jackson and their teenage daughter Julie The Jacksons are friendly with their neighbours, Peter and Helen Kroger, until the couple is...
about the relationship between the Krogers and their neighbours, whose house was used as a base for British security officials investigating the Krogers in the months leading up to their arrest. It has been staged a number of times, including major productions in London and New York. In 1987 the play was made into a CBS television drama starring Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
, Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
, Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
and Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
, though the name "Kroger" was changed to "Schaefer". It was also performed as BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Saturday Play on 9 September 2006, starring Ed Begley, Jr.
Ed Begley, Jr.
Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...
as Peter Kroger, Teri Garr again as Helen, Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
as their neighbour and Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
as the man from MI5. It was directed by Martin Jarvis.
A television movie drama Longford
Longford (film)
Longford is a 2006 drama television film directed by Tom Hooper and written by Peter Morgan.The film centres on Labour Party peer Lord Longford and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley....
was shown on Britain's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on Thursday 26 October 2006. When Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer...
first visits Myra Hindley at Holloway Prison, it is announced that Helen Kroger and Ethel Gee are also expecting visitors.
The Spy Game by Georgina Harding uses the Krogers and their cover as a harmless and typical suburban couple as background to her novel, published in 2009.