Charles Spry
|
Brigadier Sir Charles Spry CBE, DSO |
|
|---|---|
Charles Spry in 1950
|
|
| 2nd Director-General of Security | |
|
In office 6 July 1950 – 21 January 1970 |
|
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Reed |
| Succeeded by | Peter Barbour |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Charles Chambers Fowell Spry 26 June 1910 Brisbane, Queensland |
| Died | 28 May 1994 (aged 83) Melbourne, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse(s) | Kathleen Edith Hull |
| Alma mater | Royal Military College, Duntroon |
| Occupation | Army officer |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | "Silent Charles" |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1929–1954 |
| Rank | Brigadier |
| Unit | 6th Division |
| Battles/wars |
North-West Frontier Second World War |
| Awards |
Knight Bachelor Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order |
Brigadier Sir Charles Chambers Fowell Spry CBE, DSO (26 June 1910 – 28 May 1994) was an Australian soldier and public servant. From 1950 to 1970 he was the second Director-General of Security, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
Charles Spry was born on 26 June 1910 in Brisbane. He attended local state schools and then Brisbane Grammar School. At the age of 18, he enrolled in the Royal Military College, Duntroon, from which he graduated in 1931.
After graduating from Duntroon, Spry served as an infantry officer in Hobart and Sydney, where he earned the nickname "Silent Charles" while adjutant of the Sydney University Regiment. From 1935 to 1936, he served in the British Army in India, where he joined in operations with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in the Northwest Frontier.
ASIO's first Director-General, Geoffrey Reed, had been due to retire in February 1950, but his appointment was extended until the Menzies Government could find a suitable replacement. At the time, Spry was the Director of Military Intelligence in the army, and was seconded to ASIO on 6 July 1950, with an option to remain in, and return to, the army if he so desired. He was discharged from the army on 15 June 1954, and his secondment ceased on 20 August, with Spry appointed solely to ASIO.
Spry was head of ASIO during the Petrov affair when Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, defected to Australia in 1954. Spry authorised the payment of £5,000 to Petrov to encourage his defection and as payment for documents he obtained from the Soviet embassy. Spry also instructed ASIO officers to seize Petrov's wife, Evdokia Petrova (also a Soviet intelligence officer), from a plane at Darwin Airport, where she was in the custody of Soviet Interior Ministry (MVD) officials being transported back to Moscow.
...
Wikipedia