I had emailed Christopher Andrew (author of the authorized history of MI5 – Defend the Realm/Defence of the Realm) a few weeks back asking if he had any further information on Robin W.G. Stephens, commandant of MI5’s secret interrogation centre, Camp 020. Specifically, I was interested in any information on Stephens’ death.
Andrew replied back promptly with the following:
- Most sources in National Archives KV series
- See Defence of Realm
- See further sources mentioned in Andrew and Tonia [sic], Interrogation (this is Andrew and Tobia)
- Note correspondence a few years ago in TLS by Calder Walton
Some thoughts on the above:
- I haven’t actually looked at the original KV folders that were used as the source for the Camp 020 book by Oliver Hoare. Perhaps there is more in there than I had thought?
- Defence of the Realm – has some tidbits on Stephens, but nothing on his death
- Andrew & Tobia – this is a 2014 publication: Interrogation in War and Conflict: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Analysis – It definitely looks interesting and it’s been on my radar for a while. Unfortunately it comes it with a rather exorbitant price tag on Amazon – $157 (even the Kindle edition is $80). There don’t appear to be any Canadian libraries that carry it… so it may have to go onto my “next-time-I’m-in-London” list at the British Library.
- TLS – this is the Times Literary Supplement – apparently in 2013 Calder Walton wrote a rebuttal to Ian Cobain’s book, Cruel Britannia. Calder Walton worked as the lead researcher when Christopher Andrew was writing his authorized history of MI5. There would appear to be a back and forth that took place between Walton and Cobain but, without being a subscriber to TLS, my access is limited.
So there are a few leads here… most of which need a visit to London. On the other hand, I may email Calder Walton, as he was the lead researcher on Defend the Realm/Defence of the Realm and might have some helpful insights.