In July and August 2014, the Eastbourne Herald published three letters that Margaret Spencer had written to her family. The letters detailed some of Margaret’s supposed wartime (and post war) adventures as an SIS agent (Secret Intelligence Service – aka MI6). Published posthumously after her death by her family, the letters paint a picture of a heroic woman who was a nurse by day, and secret agent by night. In the following blog posts, we will examine each of her letters in detail and see if her story holds water.
On 20 July, 2014, the Eastbourne Herald published an article that introduced Margaret, and laid the foundation for the letters to come. Let’s take a look at the article in detail, keeping in mind that it has been written by a journalist, and may not have all the facts straight.
Posthumous Acknowledgements
A 94-year-old community stalwart in Westham who died last month was an elite member of the Secret Intelligence Services in the Second World War who saved countless lives.
Margaret Spencer was disguised as a nun and parachuted into the continent during the conflict to bring agents home, was shot in the back by a German sniper and also thanked by the King and Queen for looking after Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as they mingled with crowds outside Buckingham Palace at the end of the Second World War in 1945.
Margaret passed away on June 23 and her funeral was held on Saturday at St Mary’s Church where she was a regular worshipper and choirmaster for 22 years. Her funeral at the weekend saw choirs from both St Mary’s and St Nicholas’ lead a procession through the village before the funeral. She is now buried in the cemetery of St Mary’s.
She spent her later life working as a matron with her late husband Len at Willoughby Court in Eastbourne. She also ran the Women’s Institute and was involved with the Westham and Pevensey Historical Society, music groups and other organisations.
Margaret sounds like a lovely person. She was involved in her community, both religious and secular. She had a rich and active social life from the sounds of it. And yet… the introductory paragraph hints at a darker side to Margaret, a hidden side. She might have looked like your typical British grandmother, but during her younger (and not so younger) years, she had apparently done things that most people couldn’t even dream. The message we get is… there is more to Margaret than meets the eye.
Recruited into S.I.S.
Margaret was recruited to the SIS, commonly known as MI6, as a 20-year-old by a family member, given a warrant and a Colt 45 and worked as a secret agent until 1977 when she retired from active service and surrendered her gun.
She was absolved from the Official Secrets Act in 1995 and then told her family of her fascinating double life.
Margaret’s daughter Diana, who lives in Quebec Close, said she was immensely proud of her mother, who lived in the High Street.
Although Margaret trained as a nurse and lived and worked in Eastbourne, her first job within the SIS was to track down Communists who were ready to assist the Germans should they invade.
We know from the Sister Evangeline story, that Margaret was recruited into SIS by her brother. He would have been the one person who could have corroborated Margaret’s story but he passed away in 1990.
As a close family member, Margaret’s daughter, Diana, could easily write to MI6 and get some information from them about her mother’s wartime service. Even just an acknowledgement that “Yes, Margaret Payne (her maiden name) and/or Margaret Scott (her first marriage) and/or Margaret Spencer (her second marriage) does have a file here and was an agent of ours”. And yet, since SIS is shrouded in such secrecy, anyone can publicly claim to have been a secret agent during the war and… who can really question them on it? In order to confirm Margaret’s story, however, we do need something official, something more than a personal memoir.
There is some truth to the last sentence. Margaret did train as a nurse and she did live and work in Eastbourne. Except, of course for Margaret’s Evangeline story which has her living and working in Ely, Cambridgeshire at various points. The sentence above notes that one of Margaret’s first jobs with SIS was to track down “Communists” ready to assist the Germans should they invade. We’ll learn in the next post that these were “Fifth Communists”, either a typo by the newspaper or a typo on Margaret’s part. She likely meant “Fifth Columnists”, individuals who were ready to leap up and assist the Germans should they have had the temerity to invade England in 1940/41. It would, of course, not be within the purview of SIS to track down Fifth Columnists. MI6 worked abroad gathering intelligence; it was up to MI5 to handle domestic security within the boundaries of the United Kingdom. A typo? We shall see.
Retired & Released
In her memoirs she writes, “It was the loneliest job in the world. You can talk to no one and I mean no one. Secrecy meant just that, not even your nearest and dearest. There were no medals or thanks for the men and women of the shadows but what we did was vital to our country, so we did our duty.
“In 1977 I surrendered my gun and retired from service and from work. In 1995 I was informed that I was now absolved from the Secrecy Act and the rest of my life was my own. I was 75.”
The Herald will be publishing Margaret’s memoirs over the next few weeks in Looking Back. See page 47.
Margaret says that there were no medals or thanks for the men and women of the shadows. Well, actually, there were. Members of MI5 were often granted an OBE for their service, not to mention wartime service medals. Many of the women of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) were also granted medals (e.g. MBE), sometimes posthumously. Many also received the Croix de Guerre from the French. Even James Bond, that most secret of secret agents, was awarded medals. Perhaps her statement is meant to explain why she has no medals to display for her wartime service? Perhaps she has no medals because there was no SIS wartime service.
Conclusion
This introductory article by the Eastbourne Herald piques our curiosity and we want to learn more. Who was Margaret Spencer? Did she really lead a secret double life during the Second World War? But already we seem some weak spots in the narrative. Are they just journalistic errors or do they reflect errors in Margaret’s original letters? The next blog post will examine Margaret’s first memoir/letter in detail.
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