PersonPolitics

Sidney Reilly

Sidney George Reilly MC (/ˈraɪli/; c. 1873 – 5 November 1925), fictionalized as the "Ace of Spies", was a Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later by the Foreign Section of the British Secret Service Bureau, the precursor to the modern British …

Born~Died Mar 24, 1873 ~ Nov 5, 1925Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 3:26 PM

Details

Born ~ Died: Mar 24, 1873 ~ Nov 5, 1925
Born: c. 1873, Possibly Odessa, Russian Empire
Died: 5 November 1925 (aged 51), Possibly Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Other names: "Ace of Spies"; Dr. T. W. Andrew; Mr. Constantine; George Bergmann
Allegiance: United Kingdom Germany Empire of Japan Russia
Service branch: Secret Service Bureau Kenpeitai
Codename: S.T.I.
Operations: Lockhart Plot D'Arcy Concession Zinoviev letter
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Branch: Royal Air Force
Service years: 1917–1921
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Awards: Military Cross
Location: 46.4775, 30.7326

See this era on the big map →

Contents

1.Birth and youth
2.Travels abroad
3.In London: 1890s
4.Russia and the Far East
5.Continental exploits
5.1.D'Arcy affair
5.2.Frankfurt Air Show
5.3.Stealing weapon plans
6.First World War activity
7.Ambassadors' plot
7.1.Planning a coup
7.2.Plot unravels
7.3.Chekist reprisal
7.4.Escape from Russia

Sidney George Reilly MC (/ˈraɪli/; c. 1873¹ – 5 November 1925), fictionalized as the "Ace of Spies", was a Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later by the Foreign Section of the British Secret Service Bureau,² the precursor to the modern British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6/SIS).³⁴ He is alleged to have spied for at least four different great powers,⁵ and documentary evidence indicates that he was involved in espionage activities in 1890s London among Russian émigré circles, in Manchuria on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), and in an abortive 1918 coup d'état against Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik government in Moscow.⁶

Reilly disappeared in Soviet Russia in the mid-1920s, lured by the Cheka's Operation Trust. British diplomat and journalist R. H. Bruce Lockhart publicised his and Reilly's 1918 exploits to overthrow the Bolshevik regime in Lockhart's 1932 book Memoirs of a British Agent.⁷⁸ This became an international best-seller and garnered global fame for Reilly. The memoirs retold the efforts by Reilly, Lockhart, and other conspirators to sabotage the while still in its infancy.

This page is based on “Sidney Reilly” from English Wikipedia, (r1379815979) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.

Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 3:26 PM · r112750 · Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Reilly's birth year is disputed. He wrote 1873 in documents prior to 1917, after which he wrote 1874.21 His wife Pepita Bobadilla stated 1872,21 but she revised this to 1874 in her memoir.22 R. H. Bruce Lockhart posited 1873,23 while the Soviet OGPU posited 1874.20 ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1933. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
Thomson 2011. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
SIS Website 2007. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Deacon 1987, pp. 133–136. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, pp. 277, 322–323. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Lockhart 1932. ↩
Spence 2002, Chapter 8: The Russian Question. ↩
Billington 1984. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Lycett 1996, pp. 118, 132. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 1986, p. 83. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Deacon 1987, p. 134. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Ludecke 1929, p. 105. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, p. 2. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Segodnya 2007. ↩
Lockhart 1986 ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 28. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Ainsworth 1998, p. 1447. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Elwood 1986, p. 310. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Switching allegiances from anti-Tsarist revolutionary activist to pro-Tsarist police informant often occurred in the final decade of the Russian Empire.29 For examples of Okhrana informants similar to Reilly and Grammatikov, see R. C. Elwood, Russian Social Democracy in the Underground: A Study of the RSDRP in the Ukraine, 1907–1914 (Assen, 1974), pp. 51–58. ↩
Lockhart 1967, pp. 25–26. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Spence 2002, p. 12. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 32–33. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Cook 2004, p. 56. ↩ ↩²
Kennedy 2016, pp. 274–276. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Lockhart 1967, p. 27. ↩ ↩²
Kennedy 2016, pp. 274–76. ↩ ↩²
Ramm 2017. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cook 2004, p. 39. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 34. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 2009, p. 81. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 28–39. ↩
Lockhart 1967, pp. 29–30. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 24. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 30. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 37. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 17–19. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 15–18. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 44. ↩
Spence 1995, p. 92. ↩ ↩²
Nish 1985. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 44–50. ↩
Castravelli 2006, p. 44. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Deacon 1987, p. 77. ↩ ↩²
Ludecke 1929, p. 106. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, Foreword. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Spence 2002, pp. 40–55. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 59–60. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 61. ↩
Williamson 1926. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Andrew Cook inaccurately describes William Melville as the first director general of MI5.56 In contrast, MI5's authorised biographer Christopher Andrew describes Melville as the informal chief of a separate Special Section of the British Secret Service Bureau,40 the forerunner to the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).11 ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 56–59. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Andrew 2009, p. 6. ↩ ↩²
Yergin 1991, p. 140. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, pp. 41–42. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 57–59. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 78. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cook 2004, pp. 64–68. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, p. 47. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Spence 2002, p. 92. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, pp. 36–38. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Lockhart 1967, p. 36. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 276–277. ↩
Deacon 1972, pp. 144, 175. ↩ ↩²
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 5–6. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 25–26. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 104. ↩
Lockhart 1967, p. 59. ↩
Pepita Bobadilla, Reilly's last wife, criticised Winfried Lüdecke's 1929 biography as erroneous. Bobadilla wrote in 1931: "The section devoted to [Reilly] in Winfried Ludecke's standard work Behind the Scenes of Espionage abounds in inaccuracies." See Bobadilla's foreword to Adventures of a British Master Spy.22 ↩ ↩²
Deacon 1987, p. 135. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 1986, p. 214. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Long 1995, p. 1228. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, Chapter 6: War on the Manhattan Front. ↩
Andrew 1986. ↩
Hicks 1920. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, pp. 150–151. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 172–173, 185–186. ↩ ↩²
"No. 30497". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 January 1918. p. 1363. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 81. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Bonch-Bruyevich 1966, p. 303. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 195. ↩ ↩²
Van Der Rhoer 1981, p. 2. ↩
Confusion exists regarding who Reilly contacted on his April 1918 arrival in Moscow.85 Bobadilla's 1931 book claims that Reilly saw General Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich. However, Bonch-Bruyevich's memoirs state that Reilly "never came to see me in Moscow".86 Edward Van Der Rhoer posits that Reilly instead contacted Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich, Vladimir Lenin's friend and secretary of the Council of People's Commissars.84 ↩
Milton 2014, p. 112. ↩
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 26–28. ↩
Elwood 1986, pp. 310–311. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 137. ↩ ↩²
McNeal 2018. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 187–191. ↩ ↩²
McNeal 2002, p. 121. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 241–242. ↩
Long 1995, p. 1225. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Long 1995, p. 1226. ↩ ↩²
The persistent myth of Reilly as a Soviet double agent originates in idle speculation made by Dewitt C. Poole, the former U.S. Consul-General in Russia, in September 1918.12 Both R. H. Bruce Lockhart and George Hill rejected Poole's speculation. In 1992, OGPU records regarding Reilly's interrogation and execution confirmed he was not a double agent.163 ↩ ↩²
Debo 1971. ↩
Long 1995, p. 1227. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Hill 1932, pp. 237–238. ↩
McNeal 2002, pp. 105–106. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 234. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, p. 322. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Cook 2004, pp. 162–164. ↩ ↩²
Long 1995, p. 1230. ↩ ↩²
Ferguson 2010, pp. 1–5, Prologue. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
Hill 1932, p. 238. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 166–169. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Long 1995, p. 1229. ↩ ↩²
Long 1995, p. 1231. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Ainsworth 1998, p. 1448. ↩
Kitchen: "Hill, George Alexander (1892–1968). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography." ↩
Hill 1932, p. 201. ↩
Hill 1932, p. 239. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, pp. 317–318. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Brooklyn Eagle 1918. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Washington Post 1918. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Brooke 2006, p. 74. ↩ ↩²
Donaldson & Donaldson 1980, p. 221. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Volkogonov 1994, pp. 222, 231. ↩
Elwood 1986, p. 311. ↩
In 1993, Russia's Security Ministry raised doubts about the participation of Fanya Kaplan in the 30 August 1918 assassination attempt on Vladimir Lenin. See UPI press release in the Bibliography section.117 ↩
Brooke 2006, p. 75. ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1918, pp. 1, 6. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Britnieva 1934, pp. 77–86. ↩
Lockhart 1932, p. 320. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, p. 330. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 209. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 242–244. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 234. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 244–245. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, p. 240. ↩ ↩²
Service 2012, pp. 164–165. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
In 1938, Reilly's prosecutor Nikolai Krylenko was arrested during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.129 Following interrogation and torture by the NKVD, Krylenko confessed to anti-Soviet agitation. After a 20-minute trial, the Military Collegium of the Soviet Supreme Court sentenced Krylenko to death and executed him.129 In Memoirs of a British Agent (1932), R. H. Bruce Lockhart described Krylenko as "an epileptic degenerate ... and the most repulsive type I came across in all my connections with the Bolsheviks".130 ↩
Feofanov & Barry 1995, pp. 3, 5, 10–12. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 236. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 453. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 247–251. ↩
Ainsworth 1998, pp. 1447–1470. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, p. 103: "My first meeting with Sidney Reilly took place at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. It was in the December of 1922, and the Reparations Commission was in session in the German capital." ↩
Lockhart 1967, p. 111. ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1925. ↩ ↩²
Evening Standard 1923, p. 9. ↩
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, p. 110. ↩
Ludecke 1929, p. 107. ↩ ↩²
Kettle 1983, pp. 124–128. ↩
Madeira 2014, p. 124. ↩
Kettle 1983, p. 129. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2002, p. 241: "The letter, which was almost certainly a forgery, was supposedly written by Gregory Zinoviev..." ↩
Kettle 1983, pp. 11: "In 1924, by means of a skillfully forged letter..." ↩
Kettle 1983, p. 117; Andrew 2009, pp. 150–151. ↩
Corry 1984. ↩ ↩²
Kettle 1983, pp. 116–126. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 188. ↩
"No. 31176". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 February 1919. p. 2238. ↩
The announcement that Reilly had been awarded the Military Cross (MC) was published in The London Gazette on 11/12 February 1919: "His Majesty the KING (George V) has been graciously pleased to approve the undermentioned rewards for distinguished services rendered in connection with Military operations in the Field:—Awarded the Military Cross. Lieutenant. George Alexander Hill, 4th Bn; Manch. R.; attend. R.A.F., 2nd Lt. Sidney George Reilly, R.A.F." See "No. 31176". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 11 February 1919. p. 2238. This citation misled biographers such as Richard Deacon to conclude that Reilly's medal was bestowed for military feats against the Imperial German Army during World War I.72 ↩
Andrew 1986, pp. 433, 448. ↩
Elwood 1986, p. 312. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Deacon 1987, p. 136. ↩
Grant 1986, pp. 51–77. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 238. ↩
Ristolainen 2009. ↩
Kotakallio 2016, p. 142. ↩
Solzhenitsyn 1974, pp. 127, 631. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 455–456. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 250. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 258–259. ↩
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 186–235. ↩
Mazower 2017, pp. 32. ↩
Doughty, David. "Liner Notes". Shostakovich: Jazz & Ballet Suites, Film Music (Brilliant Classics, 2006). ↩
"Reilly, Ace of Spies". Box Cover, A & E Home Video Edition (2005). Retrieved 2 November 2022. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 12. ↩ ↩²
"Сідней Рейлі повертається до Одеси". ↩
"Скульптор Вячеслав ЖИГЛИЦКИЙ: «Сквозь бронзу и время»". www.aquarelle.md. Retrieved 13 August 2026. ↩

Reilly's birth year is disputed. He wrote 1873 in documents prior to 1917, after which he wrote 1874.21 His wife Pepita Bobadilla stated 1872,21 but she revised this to 1874 in her memoir.22 R. H. Bruce Lockhart posited 1873,23 while the Soviet OGPU posited 1874.20 ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1933. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
Thomson 2011. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
SIS Website 2007. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Deacon 1987, pp. 133–136. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, pp. 277, 322–323. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Lockhart 1932. ↩
Spence 2002, Chapter 8: The Russian Question. ↩
Billington 1984. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Lycett 1996, pp. 118, 132. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 1986, p. 83. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Deacon 1987, p. 134. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Ludecke 1929, p. 105. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, p. 2. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Segodnya 2007. ↩
Lockhart 1986 ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 28. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Ainsworth 1998, p. 1447. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Elwood 1986, p. 310. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Switching allegiances from anti-Tsarist revolutionary activist to pro-Tsarist police informant often occurred in the final decade of the Russian Empire.29 For examples of Okhrana informants similar to Reilly and Grammatikov, see R. C. Elwood, Russian Social Democracy in the Underground: A Study of the RSDRP in the Ukraine, 1907–1914 (Assen, 1974), pp. 51–58. ↩
Lockhart 1967, pp. 25–26. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Spence 2002, p. 12. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 32–33. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Cook 2004, p. 56. ↩ ↩²
Kennedy 2016, pp. 274–276. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Lockhart 1967, p. 27. ↩ ↩²
Kennedy 2016, pp. 274–76. ↩ ↩²
Ramm 2017. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cook 2004, p. 39. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 34. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 2009, p. 81. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 28–39. ↩
Lockhart 1967, pp. 29–30. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 24. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 30. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 37. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 17–19. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 15–18. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 44. ↩
Spence 1995, p. 92. ↩ ↩²
Nish 1985. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 44–50. ↩
Castravelli 2006, p. 44. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Deacon 1987, p. 77. ↩ ↩²
Ludecke 1929, p. 106. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, Foreword. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Spence 2002, pp. 40–55. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 59–60. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 61. ↩
Williamson 1926. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Andrew Cook inaccurately describes William Melville as the first director general of MI5.56 In contrast, MI5's authorised biographer Christopher Andrew describes Melville as the informal chief of a separate Special Section of the British Secret Service Bureau,40 the forerunner to the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).11 ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 56–59. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Andrew 2009, p. 6. ↩ ↩²
Yergin 1991, p. 140. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, pp. 41–42. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 57–59. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2004, p. 78. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Cook 2004, pp. 64–68. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, p. 47. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Spence 2002, p. 92. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1967, pp. 36–38. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Lockhart 1967, p. 36. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 276–277. ↩
Deacon 1972, pp. 144, 175. ↩ ↩²
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 5–6. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 25–26. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 104. ↩
Lockhart 1967, p. 59. ↩
Pepita Bobadilla, Reilly's last wife, criticised Winfried Lüdecke's 1929 biography as erroneous. Bobadilla wrote in 1931: "The section devoted to [Reilly] in Winfried Ludecke's standard work Behind the Scenes of Espionage abounds in inaccuracies." See Bobadilla's foreword to Adventures of a British Master Spy.22 ↩ ↩²
Deacon 1987, p. 135. ↩ ↩²
Andrew 1986, p. 214. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Long 1995, p. 1228. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, Chapter 6: War on the Manhattan Front. ↩
Andrew 1986. ↩
Hicks 1920. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, pp. 150–151. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 172–173, 185–186. ↩ ↩²
"No. 30497". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 January 1918. p. 1363. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 81. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Bonch-Bruyevich 1966, p. 303. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 195. ↩ ↩²
Van Der Rhoer 1981, p. 2. ↩
Confusion exists regarding who Reilly contacted on his April 1918 arrival in Moscow.85 Bobadilla's 1931 book claims that Reilly saw General Mikhail Bonch-Bruyevich. However, Bonch-Bruyevich's memoirs state that Reilly "never came to see me in Moscow".86 Edward Van Der Rhoer posits that Reilly instead contacted Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich, Vladimir Lenin's friend and secretary of the Council of People's Commissars.84 ↩
Milton 2014, p. 112. ↩
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 26–28. ↩
Elwood 1986, pp. 310–311. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 137. ↩ ↩²
McNeal 2018. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 187–191. ↩ ↩²
McNeal 2002, p. 121. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 241–242. ↩
Long 1995, p. 1225. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Long 1995, p. 1226. ↩ ↩²
The persistent myth of Reilly as a Soviet double agent originates in idle speculation made by Dewitt C. Poole, the former U.S. Consul-General in Russia, in September 1918.12 Both R. H. Bruce Lockhart and George Hill rejected Poole's speculation. In 1992, OGPU records regarding Reilly's interrogation and execution confirmed he was not a double agent.163 ↩ ↩²
Debo 1971. ↩
Long 1995, p. 1227. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Hill 1932, pp. 237–238. ↩
McNeal 2002, pp. 105–106. ↩
McNeal 2002, p. 234. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, p. 322. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Cook 2004, pp. 162–164. ↩ ↩²
Long 1995, p. 1230. ↩ ↩²
Ferguson 2010, pp. 1–5, Prologue. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
Hill 1932, p. 238. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 166–169. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Long 1995, p. 1229. ↩ ↩²
Long 1995, p. 1231. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Ainsworth 1998, p. 1448. ↩
Kitchen: "Hill, George Alexander (1892–1968). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography." ↩
Hill 1932, p. 201. ↩
Hill 1932, p. 239. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, pp. 317–318. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Brooklyn Eagle 1918. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Washington Post 1918. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Brooke 2006, p. 74. ↩ ↩²
Donaldson & Donaldson 1980, p. 221. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Volkogonov 1994, pp. 222, 231. ↩
Elwood 1986, p. 311. ↩
In 1993, Russia's Security Ministry raised doubts about the participation of Fanya Kaplan in the 30 August 1918 assassination attempt on Vladimir Lenin. See UPI press release in the Bibliography section.117 ↩
Brooke 2006, p. 75. ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1918, pp. 1, 6. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Britnieva 1934, pp. 77–86. ↩
Lockhart 1932, p. 320. ↩ ↩²
Lockhart 1932, p. 330. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 209. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 242–244. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 234. ↩
Hill 1932, pp. 244–245. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Spence 2002, p. 240. ↩ ↩²
Service 2012, pp. 164–165. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
In 1938, Reilly's prosecutor Nikolai Krylenko was arrested during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.129 Following interrogation and torture by the NKVD, Krylenko confessed to anti-Soviet agitation. After a 20-minute trial, the Military Collegium of the Soviet Supreme Court sentenced Krylenko to death and executed him.129 In Memoirs of a British Agent (1932), R. H. Bruce Lockhart described Krylenko as "an epileptic degenerate ... and the most repulsive type I came across in all my connections with the Bolsheviks".130 ↩
Feofanov & Barry 1995, pp. 3, 5, 10–12. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 236. ↩
Spence 2002, p. 453. ↩
Spence 2002, pp. 247–251. ↩
Ainsworth 1998, pp. 1447–1470. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, p. 103: "My first meeting with Sidney Reilly took place at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. It was in the December of 1922, and the Reparations Commission was in session in the German capital." ↩
Lockhart 1967, p. 111. ↩ ↩²
New York Times 1925. ↩ ↩²
Evening Standard 1923, p. 9. ↩
Bobadilla & Reilly 1931, p. 110. ↩
Ludecke 1929, p. 107. ↩ ↩²
Kettle 1983, pp. 124–128. ↩
Madeira 2014, p. 124. ↩
Kettle 1983, p. 129. ↩ ↩²
Cook 2002, p. 241: "The letter, which was almost certainly a forgery, was supposedly written by Gregory Zinoviev..." ↩
Kettle 1983, pp. 11: "In 1924, by means of a skillfully forged letter..." ↩
Kettle 1983, p. 117; Andrew 2009, pp. 150–151. ↩
Corry 1984. ↩ ↩²
Kettle 1983, pp. 116–126. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 188. ↩
"No. 31176". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 February 1919. p. 2238. ↩
The announcement that Reilly had been awarded the Military Cross (MC) was published in The London Gazette on 11/12 February 1919: "His Majesty the KING (George V) has been graciously pleased to approve the undermentioned rewards for distinguished services rendered in connection with Military operations in the Field:—Awarded the Military Cross. Lieutenant. George Alexander Hill, 4th Bn; Manch. R.; attend. R.A.F., 2nd Lt. Sidney George Reilly, R.A.F." See "No. 31176". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 11 February 1919. p. 2238. This citation misled biographers such as Richard Deacon to conclude that Reilly's medal was bestowed for military feats against the Imperial German Army during World War I.72 ↩
Andrew 1986, pp. 433, 448. ↩
Elwood 1986, p. 312. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Deacon 1987, p. 136. ↩
Grant 1986, pp. 51–77. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 238. ↩
Ristolainen 2009. ↩
Kotakallio 2016, p. 142. ↩
Solzhenitsyn 1974, pp. 127, 631. ↩ ↩²
Spence 2002, pp. 455–456. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 250. ↩
Cook 2004, pp. 258–259. ↩
Van Der Rhoer 1981, pp. 186–235. ↩
Mazower 2017, pp. 32. ↩
Doughty, David. "Liner Notes". Shostakovich: Jazz & Ballet Suites, Film Music (Brilliant Classics, 2006). ↩
"Reilly, Ace of Spies". Box Cover, A & E Home Video Edition (2005). Retrieved 2 November 2022. ↩
Cook 2004, p. 12. ↩ ↩²
"Сідней Рейлі повертається до Одеси". ↩
"Скульптор Вячеслав ЖИГЛИЦКИЙ: «Сквозь бронзу и время»". www.aquarelle.md. Retrieved 13 August 2026. ↩

Sidney Reilly

Birth and youth

Travels abroad

In London: 1890s

Russia and the Far East

Continental exploits

D'Arcy affair

Frankfurt Air Show

Stealing weapon plans

First World War activity

Ambassadors' plot

Planning a coup

Plot unravels

Chekist reprisal

Escape from Russia

Activities from 1919 to 1924

Russian Civil War

Final marriage

Zinoviev scandal

Career with British intelligence

Execution

Fictional portrayals

Literature

Film

Television

James Bond

Monuments

References

Bibliography

Print sources

Online sources

Notes

Footnotes