◆ SpookStack

in view of the sispicions held | against Maclean and of the conspiracorial mannes~2t bi, | flight, ib was assumed, thoug it eauld not he proved, that his destination and that of his ¢om- panion must have been. the Ba- viet Union or some other terri+ tory behind the tron Curtain. Now Viadiniur Petrov, the fer- | mer ‘Third Secretary af the Soviet Embassy in. Canberra, who sought polltical asyluar on April 3, 1854, has provided con- firmation of this, Petrov him- self was not directly concerned in the case and his information was. oblained ‘from conversa- tion with one of his colleagues in. the Soviet service in AUs- tralia, Recruited at College petrov states that both Mac: lean and Burgess were reoruil: ed as spies for the Soviet Gave ernment while students at the university, with the intention that they should carry out their agpionnge tasks in the Foreign Office and that in 1951, by means unknown to him, one or other of the iwo mien became aware that their activities were under investigntion. This was reported by them to the Soviet intelligence setvice, Whe then organized. their escape and res movat to the Soviet Union, Petrov has the impression that the eseape rote inehided Cucchoslovakia and that it in- volved an aitplane flight into that country. Upon their ar- 1 rival on Russia, Maclean and Burgess lived near Moscaw.~, They were used as advisers to 4 the Ministry of Fareign Affairs 1 and other Soviet agencies, Pelrov adds that one of the men ¢Macleany has since been joined by his wite. : Two. points call for comments. - first, how Maclean and Burgess remained in the Foreign Sery- | ice for so long and second, why they were able to get away: When these two men were | even thea appointments noth- ‘Sng was en record about either io show that he was unsuitable . fez the Public Service. 1 is’ true thaliheir submereent pel sanal behaviar was unsatisfac- ae