Gordon Philo

Gordon Charles George Philo
CMG MC
Born(1920-01-08)8 January 1920
London
Died24 January 2009(2009-01-24) (aged 89)
Education
OccupationIntelligence Officer/Diplomat
Spouse
Mavis "Vicky" Galsworthy
​
​
(m. 1952; died 1986)​
Awards
Espionage activity
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
AgencyMI6
Service years1951–1978
RankPrincipal Staff Officer to the Head of Service 1973–75
Military career
BranchRoyal Army Service Corps
Service1940–1946
RankLieutenant
Unit224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
AwardsMC (1944)
Writing career
Pen nameCharles Forsyte
Genres
Years active1961–1980
Notable worksThe decoding of Edwin Drood

Gordon Charles George Philo CMG MC (8 January 1920 – 24 January 2009) was an English intelligence officer, soldier and writer. He participated in the Second World War from 1940 to 1946 and was parachuted into Normandy on D-day, subsequently being awarded the Military Cross for his actions. After the war he had a career in MI6 from 1951 to 1978, including an appointment as Consul-General at Hanoi during the Vietnam war.

Early life

Philo was born in London on 8 January 1920. He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School in Hampstead, from where he was awarded the Methuen Scholarship in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford. He went up in 1938 and took an ordinary B.A. before being called up into the Army.[1]

Military career

Philo joined the Army in 1940 but proved not to be a natural soldier and had to repeat his basic training before being commissioned in 1941 into the Royal Army Service Corps.[1] Philo was posted to the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1942–1943 and served in the Gold Coast. Philo was based in the United Kingdom as a transport officer with the 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance in 1943–1944. He parachuted into France on D-day.[2]

For his actions on 6 June 1944 he was awarded the Military Cross on 19 October 1944.[3][4] Philo led his Field Ambulance troops, which had been parachuted around Varaville and were dispersed, to safety through enemy lines. He then, with four other soldiers, captured 63 German soldiers and five vehicles, which allowed the evacuation of 64 allied wounded men. The award citation concluded "At all times has shewn outstanding qualities of leadership and set a high example of courage and devotion to duty to the men under his command."[5] Philo completed his military service in Europe and India in 1945–1946.

Academic career

After returning from his war service in 1946, Philo attempted to pursue an academic career. He gained his B.A. (Hons.) in 1947 but only received a 2nd class degree. He then went on to study French and Russian at the Sorbonne in 1947–1948. He became a lecturer in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford in 1948–1949, and then was a foundation member of St Antony's College, Oxford in 1950 but was unable to gain a permanent academic position. Philo wrote a paper on Alexis de Tocqueville in 1952.[6]

Intelligence and diplomatic career

Philo was recommended to the SIS by William Deakin, the Warden of St Antony's College.[2] He joined the Foreign Service in 1951. He was immediately sent on a Russian language course at Christ's College, Cambridge from 1951–1952, and then received his first posting in Istanbul from 1952–1956; while there he was promoted to third secretary in 1954. His next posting was as second secretary at Ankara 1957–1958.

Philo was in charge of training new entrants to SIS when David Cornwell (John le Carré) switched from the Security Service (MI5) to SIS (MI6) in 1960.[7] In London in 1961–1963 Philo assisted with the processing and circulating of material from the Russian double agent Oleg Penkovsky.[2] He was then posted to Kuala Lumpur from 1963–1967 as liaison officer during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation for which he was awarded the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN Hon.)[8][1] Philo was promoted to first secretary at the Foreign Office in 1968.[9]

He was Consul-General at Hanoi, North Vietnam 1968–1969. Britain's Consulate-General did not have diplomatic status, since Britain did not officially recognise the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam, instead the office was accredited to the Hanoi local authorities.[10][11]: 342  The post was an exceptional case in the service because it was a hardship post and the consul-general was the only consular officer in the mission.[12][13] For his service in Hanoi Philo was awarded the CMG.[14]

After returning to London headquarters, Philo held a series of posts in the security and personnel fields. He was Principal Staff Officer to the Head of the Secret Intelligence Service 1973–75. The Times obituary said: "His career in the SIS was notable for the consistency with which he maintained standards of intellectual rigour, absolute integrity and kindness to his colleagues ... He was, perhaps, too nice and too self-effacing a man to reach the top of his profession. But his career was not without distinction."[2]

Retirement

Philo retired from the SIS in 1978. In the period 1978-1983 Philo wrote a post-1945 history of the Secret Intelligence Service, which is described as "a work of formidable scale and scholarship"[2] but this remains classified, and is unlikely to be published for many years. For comparison, Keith Jeffrey's official history of the SIS covered 1909–1949 and was published in 2010.[15]

Philo carried out a wide variety of activities in his retirement.

  • Extended Interview Assessor on a part-time basis in the Home Office Unit of the Civil Service Selection Board between 1978 and 1990.[1]
  • Chairman of the council of The Kipling Society from 1986-88 and again from 1997-99.[1]
  • Participated as a speaker in 1993–1995 at the annual "Dickens Universe" at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Philo was described in the program as a Dickens scholar who was "an authority on matters Droodian".[16][17]
  • Wrote articles for The Dickensian between 1980 and 2001. Tony Williams, in his obituary of Philo, stated: "A man of great intelligence, integrity, loyalty, an inspirational colleague and friend, Gordon Philo's was a life of service to his country, and his enthusiasms."[18]
  • Member of the Athenaeum Club, London which he joined in 1976, and in 2001 wrote an article about an aspect of its history connected to Charles Dickens.[19]
  • Philo left a legacy of £350,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution[20] and an unstated amount to the British Library.[21]

Publications

Charles Forsyte was the joint pen name of the husband-and-wife writing team of Gordon Philo and Vicky Galsworthy Philo. Together they wrote a series of "splendidly readable whodunnits":[2]

  • Novels starring the detective Richard Left, a fictional Scotland Yard inspector[22][23]
    • Diplomatic Death (1961) using background from their diplomatic posting in Istanbul
    • Diving Death (US Title: Dive Into Danger) (1962)
    • Double Death (1965)
  • Murder with Minarets (1968) also set in Turkey
  • The decoding of Edwin Drood (1980)[24] – an analysis and completion of Charles Dickens's unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The book received a positive review in The New York Times from Angus Wilson who referred to "Mr. Forsyte's brilliant analysis of the Drood problems".[25] Leon Garfield also wrote a positive review in The Dickensian.[26] An academic commented "Forsyte’s [approach] belongs to a tradition of completions which are much more closely affiliated with speculations, setting out to solve the mystery and complete the plot in a plausible fashion."[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Luke, Barbara (June 2009). "Obituary: Gordon Philo, C.M.G, M.C., K.N.M.(Hon)". Kipling Journal (332): 38–39. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Gordon Charles George, CMG, MC, KMN (Hon)". Obituaries. The Times. London. 30 January 2009.
  3. ^ "No. 36753". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 October 1944. p. 4788.
  4. ^ Hickman, Mark. "War diary of 224th Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC". The Pegasus Archive: The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Recommendation for Award for Philo, Gordon Charles George Rank: Lieutenant" (1944). War Office, ID: WO 373/49/190. Kew, London: The National Archive.
  6. ^ Philo, Gordon (November 1952). "Alexis de Tocqueville: The Prophetic Historian". History Today. 2 (11): 770–777.
  7. ^ Berridge, G.R. "Recommended reading: Novels by Former Diplomats and Intelligence Officers". Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Senarai penuh penerima darjah kebesaran bintang dan pingat persekutuan tahun 1968" [Full list of recipients of the 1968 federal star and medal awards] (PDF). Bahagian Istiadat dan Urusetia Persidangan Antarabangsa, Jabatan Perdana Menteri. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  9. ^ The Diplomatic Service list 1976 (11th ed.). London: HMSO. 1976. pp. 363–364. ISBN 0-11-591644-X. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  10. ^ Kear, Simon (March 1999). "The British consulate‐general in Hanoi, 1954–73". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 10 (1): 215–239. doi:10.1080/09592299908406116.
  11. ^ Wolf, Nikita (15 March 2017). "'This Secret Town': British Intelligence, the Special Relationship, and the Vietnam War". The International History Review. 39 (2): 338–367. doi:10.1080/07075332.2016.1166445. JSTOR 26157109.
  12. ^ Berridge, Geoff (2022). Diplomacy: theory and practice (6th updated ed.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 166. ISBN 978-3-030-85931-2.
  13. ^ James, Leslie A. K. (2023). "Our Man in Hanoi". In Lansdowne, Helen; Etheridge, Nick; Calvert, Phil (eds.). Supervising a Peace that Never Was: Recollections of Canadian Diplomatic Personnel in Indochina, 1954-1973. Victoria, Canada: University of Victoria, The Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives. p. 60. ISBN 81 7525 766-0.
  14. ^ "No. 44999". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1969. p. 4.
  15. ^ Jeffery, Keith (2010). MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909–1949. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-9183-2.
  16. ^ "The Dickens Universe". The Dickens Project. UC Santa Cruz. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  17. ^ Philo, Gordon (1999). "Mystery of Edwin Drood, The, solutions to". In Schlicke, Paul (ed.). Oxford reader's companion to Dickens. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 402–404. ISBN 0-19-866253-X.
  18. ^ Williams, Tony (Spring 2009). "Obituaries: Gordon Philo". The Dickensian. 105 (477). The Dickens Fellowship: 91–92. ProQuest 1002719380. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  19. ^ Philo, Gordon (2001). "Dickens and the Forty Thieves". Armchair Athenians: Essays from Athenaeum Life. London: The Athenaeum. pp. 41–51. ISBN 9780953529117. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  20. ^ Bulmer, Joseph (22 September 2010). "New Appledore lifeboat named". northdevontoday. North Devon Gazette. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  21. ^ The Value of Knowledge: Annual Report and Accounts 2009/2010 (PDF). The Stationery Office. 2010. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-10-296664-0. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  22. ^ van Embden, Nico. "Charles Forsyte". Crime and Mystery Fiction. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  23. ^ Norris, John (17 October 2014). "FFB: The Detective Novels of Charles Forsyte". Pretty Sinister Books. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  24. ^ Forsyte, Charles (1980). The decoding of Edwin Drood. New York: Chales Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-16654-2. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  25. ^ Wilson, Angus (1 March 1981). "How the Dickens did it end?". Book Review. The New York Times. p. 7. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  26. ^ Garfield, Leon (Summer 1981). "Charles Forsyte, "The Decoding of Edwin Drood" (Book Review)". The Dickensian. 77 (394): 102–103. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  27. ^ Hoel, Camilla Ulleland (2012). The Completion of Edwin Drood: Endings and Authority in Finished and Unfinished Narratives (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. p. 163. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
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