When the name of the "Fifth Man" comes up in the Cambridge Five episode, no one believes it at first glance.. so grave is the name.

"Harold Adrian Russell" or "Kim Philby".

And the danger of "Philby" lies in the fact that he was the number two man in English intelligence.

And that means the Soviets know everything that English intelligence almost knows.. and with the danger and dread of the name, they double-check once and twice and three times.. and the matter becomes clear.. it is "Philby" without doubt.. especially with a cable that "Philby" had sent to "Burgess" shortly before the latter's disappearance, telling him in it that the matter was settled, and that he was forced to send his car to the scrapyard to get rid of it after it had become useless.

And it appeared clear that it was a simple coded cable.. the network had been uncovered, and the matter settled. "Philby" sent this cable to "Burgess" precisely because the latter was not psychologically stable and was an alcoholic.. and his arrest would have meant that under the slightest pressure he could collapse and confess quickly.

"Philby" was in Washington at the time.. but he had knowledge of the fall of most members of the network, and despite that he returns to London after his work ends, calmly, and waits until the intelligence men pounce on him, and lead him to their headquarters.. and begin interrogating him.

And the new surprise was.. "Philby" faces them with extreme sternness and indignation.. especially since one of his last tasks before that had been to establish an entire network against the Soviets, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.

And "Philby" did indeed establish the network between 1947 and 1949 with great success.. but at the same time.. there was a stumble in "Philby's" professional life that began to return like a ghost from the past and confirm the accusation against him.

"Enver Halil Hoxha".

And "Enver Hoxha" was the communist leader of Albania from the end of the Second World War until his death in 1985.. and he had excellent relations with the Soviets.. and they built a military base with him that the American Sixth Fleet was forbidden to approach.

And to bring down "Hoxha".. American and British intelligence recruited a group of 400 men from among the Albanian refugees who had fled in Egypt and Greece and Italy and Portugal, and trained them in Malta and Cyprus and West Germany, so that they would be capable of bearing arms, and of overthrowing "Enver Hoxha" and taking control of Albania, and transferring its allegiance to the Western camp.

And these elements are indeed trained.. and weapons are smuggled to them into the heart of Albania through "Yugoslavia", which, despite being communist and from the Eastern camp as well, was in a violent dispute with "Enver Hoxha's" regime.. because of his declaration that Kosovo belonged to Albania and was not theirs.. and because of that he clashed verbally with the Yugoslav leader "Josip Broz Tito".. and relations deteriorated severely.

Anyway.. the Albanian refugees return to Albania quietly, as ordinary citizens.. while in their reality.. they had become extremely dangerous militia elements, trained at the hands of American and English intelligence.

And zero hour comes, and they set off towards the weapons depots, but most of them are arrested at their doors.. and those of them who managed to seize a weapon and set off towards the palace to bring down "Hoxha".. found the Albanian forces waiting for them in the streets.. this group died to a man.. whether from direct clashes with the Albanian armed forces, or from torture later on, in "Enver Hoxha's" prisons.

At that point a dangerous question worth a million dollars arose.

How did the Soviets learn of the plan to overthrow "Hoxha" and warn him?

At that time no one could have suspected "Kim Philby" at all.. but now.. the threads began to gather and the picture to become clear.

But "Philby" persisted in his denial insistently.. and the denial turned into a tone of sorrow.. as he reminded his leaders and his colleagues in the agency.. how he had rendered great services to the homeland - and that was indeed true - and how he had sacrificed his blood and his nerves for the sake of his country.

And the truth is that with great skill, he managed to turn things in his favour to some extent, and the intelligence men split into two camps.. a camp on his side, and a camp against him.. and that is exactly what he wanted.. because in these circumstances, and with his sensitive position.. as long as there is a possibility that he is innocent.. he will indeed be considered innocent.

And so.. they apologise to "Philby" reluctantly.. and send him away while they still suspect him.. but he, with pride and haughtiness.. hands them his resignation a few days later, in July 1951.. because, as he put it, he felt depression and grief and was no longer able to perform his role, after the atrocious accusation they had levelled at him.

With his resignation, they remain suspicious of him and keep him under surveillance.. and they expected him to flee at any moment.. especially since the whereabouts of "Burgess" and "Maclean" had by then become known, when they appeared in the Soviet media from Moscow.. talking about injustice and repression and corruption in London.. and how they had fled to the Soviet Union.. away from that corruption.

But after his resignation "Philby" lives an extremely ordinary life, and he was a wealthy man, he was not spying for money.. but because he believed in communist principles.. so he could have spent his time without work, just spending.. but like normal people.. he could not sit without work despite his wealth.. and he strives hard to find work in the world of journalism and media, until he finds a modest job at the newspaper "The Fleet Street Letter".

The English strive hard to find any thread linking him to the Soviets.. but he was clever and a professional, so they never find any.. and here.. they back down in despair.. and announce that it was never proven that he was part of the "Cambridge Five" at all.. and that it might be a Soviet trick.. to frame him.. and that the "Five" are in fact only a "Four".

And here too.. the British government officially announces that he is an innocent man and a good citizen, who served his country on many occasions, and it honours him in 1955.. a few years after his resignation.

And in shame and bashfulness, British intelligence approaches him, asking him to return to its ranks once again.

And like any man who loves his country, "Philby" agrees without hesitation.. and this time.. he asks them to keep him away from desk posts, and to make use of his work as a press correspondent.. so they open more doors for him.. and he travels to America and Turkey and Beirut, as a press correspondent for the "Observer" and the "Economist".. and he begins trying to gather information about the Soviets.. who had agreed with him to cut off contact with him completely for the time being.. and he turned into a dormant asset.. or a sleeper cell.

And "Philby" breathed a sigh of relief, and became certain that he had escaped from between the lion's jaws, and "Philby" lives a quiet life, and he does indeed gather some information about the Soviets, but not information of real value.. and he continues his work as a correspondent, imagining that the story was finally over.. had it not been that six years later.. in 1961.. an event occurs that stirs the stagnant waters, and brings his name back to the arena as a prime suspect.

And we will talk about this sudden event later.

And there's still more of this talk to come, after the October victory celebrations, God willing.

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- Previous posts in the first comment.

- The photo is of "Kim Philby".