Spy documents lost

[Peter Clare]

SANDOWN SPY DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN 'LOST' The story of Dorothy O'Grady, the Sandown landlady convicted of spying during WW2, has always been rather sketchy, largely because both her trial and appeal were held in secret. It has now emerged her Home Office file was declassified in 2006 but, shortly afterwards, declared lost. Improbable though it may seem, a quiet, unassuming housewife running a small boarding house in Sandown became the only woman sentenced to death for spying in Britain during World War 2. Dorothy O'Grady's sentence was commuted to 14 years imprisonment on appeal. What little has been written about her creates the impression of an eccentric loner rather than a recruited agent. Most writers claim she had no contact with German intelligence or any accomplice, and was more of an amateur snoop and petty saboteur than a serious spy. The problem with this characterisation is that it doesn't really account for the severity of her initial sentence. One writer suggests a political motivaton, claiming she was an Irish radical and sending notes to an address in Portugal. Unfortunately his source cannot be verified.
It had naturally been assumed that much would be revealed when her file was declassified. It was finally released at the National Archives in January 2006. A few weeks later, on the 23rd February, the Home Office recalled the file from the archive 'in the conduct of official business'. Six months later, when National Archives requested return of the file, the Home Office said it could no longer be traced. It seems unlikely any member of the public got to see the documents in the brief period they were available. This unfortunate situation only came to light last month when a researcher asked to view the file.
Dorothy O'Grady came to the notice of the authorities in 1940 when she was seen regularly walking her dog around a prohibited area at Culver. The frequency and pattern of these walks was enough to prompt British intelligence to closely monitor her activities thereafter, including interception of her mail. There is little detail available as to exactly what their continued observation revealed. She is said to have taken a number of different Island walks in sensitive areas, where she was observed making notes and sketches. It is also claimed that, when finally arrested, a search uncovered important documents, yet it's difficult to imagine how such a person could have acquired crucial material. Her husband was a retired fireman and had volunteered for fire fighting amongst the air raids on London, apparently oblivious to her counter activities.
When she was caught cutting a military telephone line it seems to have forced the hand of the security service. She was charged with the relatively minor offence of being in a prohibited area and put on remand pending the hearing, presumably to give time for further charges to be raised. Inexplicably she was granted bail. The folly of this became evident when she vanished. There was some initial concern that she had managed to get off the Island, but she was eventually discovered living under an assumed name in Yarmouth. A charge of spying followed shortly afterwards.
Dorothy O'Grady's activities, motivation and personality all still remain much of a mystery. The story of one of the Island's most notorious residents seems to have been lost to Home Office negligence, although conspiratorialists may read more into it. A Freedom of Information request has been lodged with the Home Office to try and retrieve any internal memoranda referring to the files but it's not expected to reveal much.

[PsyWar.Org]

This sort of thing has sadly happened before. When SOE's files were first released to the National Archives, the personal file of the head of the German section was missing. When I queried it, it turned out that it had been lost somewhere. Fortunately the FCO still had a photocopy of the PF, which is now available at TNA.

Lee