Baltic Episode - A Classic of Secret Service in Russian Waters

Agar, Captain Augustus (V.C.)

ISBN 10: 0851772765 / ISBN 13: 9780851772769

Published by Conway Maritime Press, London, 1983

About this Item

1983. 255pp., a map of the Baltic States on the endpapers, 2 other maps and 12 black and white illustrations. Augustus Agar (1890-1968) was a Royal Navy officer in both the First and the Second World Wars. He was asked in late 1918 to volunteer for a mission in the Baltic Sea, where CMBs were to be used to ferry British agents back and forth from Bolshevik Russia. The shallow draught and high speed of the CMB made it ideal for landing on enemy occupied shores and making a quick getaway. Agar set up a small base at Terijoki, just inside Finland and close to the Soviet frontier. From here he undertook a top secret and dangerous mission to retrieve Paul Dukes, a man he knew only by the MI6 codename ST-25, from the coast of the Bay of Petrograd. The last British agent left in Russia, Dukes had been infiltrating the Bolshevik government for some time and had made copies of top secret documents. In order to spirit Dukes away, Agar's boats had to cross Bolshevik minefields and pass by a number of forts and ships guarding the entrance to the Bolshevik naval base at Kronstadt and to Petrograd. The book is bound in the original black boards with gold titling on the spine. The case of the book is in excellent condition. Light foxing to edges. The contents are tight and clean with no inscription. The unclipped dustwrapper has slight sunning to the spine.

Seller Inventory # hMilNaval011

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Baltic Episode - A Classic of Secret Service in Russian Waters
• Publisher: Conway Maritime Press, London
• Publication Date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0851772765
• ISBN 13: 9780851772769
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: New Edition
• Condition: Very Good Plus
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Maritime/Naval
  • Military

About this title

Synopsis

Augustus Agar VC, DSO, RN (1890 1968) was a Royal Navy officer in both the First and the Second World Wars. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for sinking a Soviet cruiser during the Russian Civil War. He was asked in late 1918 to volunteer for a mission in the Baltic Sea, where CMBs were to be used to ferry British agents back and forth from Bolshevik Russia. The shallow draught and high speed of the CMB made it ideal for landing on enemy occupied shores and making a quick getaway. Agar set up a small base at Terijoki, just inside Finland and close to the Soviet frontier. From here he undertook a top secret and dangerous mission to retrieve Paul Dukes, a man he knew only by the MI6 codename ST-25, from the coast of the Bay of Petrograd. The last British agent left in Russia, Dukes had been infiltrating the Bolshevik government for some time and had made copies of top secret documents. A master of disguise, he was known as "The Man with A Hundred Faces", but his resources had run out by this time. In order to spirit Dukes away, Agar's boats had to cross Bolshevik minefields and pass by a number of forts and ships guarding the entrance to the Bolshevik naval base at Kronstadt and to Petrograd, now St. Petersburg.