Secret love letter shows softer side of Cambridge spy ring's alleged fifth man

"It was a love letter written by one of the more important British spies of the cold war that made Tom Brass realise he had never fully known his mother. The spy in question was John Cairncross, the alleged fifth man in the Cambridge spy ring, whose spycraft also helped the Soviets win the Battle of Kursk and turn the tide of the second world war."

"My mother came from a category of women whose lives were deemed to be of little or no interest, said Brass. But these love letters which she tucked away in her copy of Cairncross's autobiography show that before she was a wife and mother, she was loved by a spy for her vibrancy and intelligence. Cairncross was known to be prickly, resentful and unsympathetic, but the previously unseen letters to Gloria Barraclough his Dearest Gloria show him to be fond and elegant."

"Brass does not believe Barraclough knew of Cairncross's double life when they dated he began spying in 1936, a year before their relationship began but if she had, he thinks she would have been intrigued, not shocked. By the time I was ready to ask the questions, she had died. he said. Brass's discovery is among the most striking exhibits in Love Letters, opening this weekend at the National Archives in Kew."

Tom Brass discovered love letters from John Cairncross tucked into his mother's copy of Cairncross's autobiography, revealing affection and admiration for Gloria Barraclough. John Cairncross is identified as the alleged fifth man of the Cambridge spy ring and supplied intelligence that aided the Soviets at the Battle of Kursk. The letters portray Cairncross as fond, elegant and capable of warmth despite a wider reputation for prickliness and resentment. Brass believes Barraclough probably did not know of Cairncross's double life while they dated. The National Archives opens the Love Letters exhibition showcasing intimate correspondence across more than 500 years, including royal confessions, clandestine affairs and queer safe houses.

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