HIGH COURAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

HIGH COURAGE

FIRING SQUAD FACED VICTIM OF REVOLUTION SCOT WHO SERVED THE TSAR "The tentacles of the Bolshevist regime are long. There is an obvious reason why this man's name should be kept secret." This remarkable statement was made recently by a solicitor defending at Solihull, Warwickshire, a former British Intelligence Officer. The man, a Scotsman, was summoned for arrears of rates. His name and address were not revealed. "During the war," stated Mr. A. Pardon Smith, defending, "my client belonged to the Intelligence Service. He was sent to Russia. There he became a member of the Tsar's own regiment and

the Flying Corps. He afterwards became Minister of Transport to the Kerensky Government, but he was arrested and imprisoned following the outbreak of revolution.

"One morning," continued Mr. Smith, "he was taken out and placed against a wall before a firing squad, in an attempt to make him give information. The ruse failed, and he was taken back to the prison, where he was put into what was known as the cork cell —a cell filled with mice and filth. "Ho was kept there for some days, and his health was shattered. Eventually he escaped, but under the new regime there was no further employment for him. "When ho returned to England ho obtained work, but could not keep his job on account of his bad health. To-day he is in work, and is prepared to do his best to pay off the arrears." Mr. Pardon Smith added that he was willing to help, and suggested that a portion of the deficiency should be made up from the court poor box. The rating officer stated that his committee had no idea of the circumstances when they applied for the committal, and he was prepared to accept the offer which had been made.